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Book_ 

- /i 

GojpOtitN°__ 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 























THE SANDMAN: 

HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 


Sandman Stories 



By William J. Hopkins 

The Sandman: His Farm Stories 

$1.50 

The Sandman: More Farm Stories 

1.50 

The Sandman : His Ship Stories 

1.50 

The Sandman : His Sea Stories 

1.50 

By Harry W. Frees 


The Sandman : His Animal Stories 

$1.50 

The Sandman : His Kittycat Stories 

1.50 

By Jenny Wallis 


The Sandman : His Songs and Rhymes 

$1.50 

9 


THE PAGE COMPANY 

53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. 



he 

His Kittycat 
Stories * 


By” ^ 

■/uy 

t S js 

Harry” W. Frees 


With Thirty-two Illustrations from Life Photographs 
Taken by the ^Author 


> > 

> , 5 


Boston 

The Page Company 

MDCCCCXVII 




cmdiDGm: 


























Copyright , 1917, 

By The Page Company 


All rights reserved 


First Impression, October, 1917 




OCT 31 1917 





©CIA477334 







CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I The Merry Little Breezes Story . . . . 13 

II The Mr. O. Sugar Story.22 

III The Disobedience Story.31 

IV The Rag Doll Story.54 

V The Newsboy Story.70 

VI The Lion Story.80 

VII The Chestnut Story.95 

VIII The Soldier Boy Story.109 

IX The Fishing Trip Story.120 

X The Flower Gift Story.136 

XI The Tea Story.152 

XII The Corn on the Cob Story.160 

XIII The Bunny Nest Story.169 

XIV The Cave Story.178 

XV The Seed Planting Story.190 

XVI The Birthday Story.198 

XVII The Fish Hawk Story.214 

XVIII The Three Little Bears Story.223 

XIX The Automobile Story.239 

XX The Telephone Story.254 

XXI The Blustery Mr. North Wind Story . . 264 
























LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

“ Betty took her little rake and went out ” (see 

page 193 ) . Frontispiece 

“ Tried to pull the hat back to shore ” .... 17 

“ She was spreading the sheet over the bed ” . . .27 

“ He sprinkled the pine tree in the middle of the 

LAWN ”.37 

“ You OUGHT TO HAVE SEEN THOSE FEATHERS FLY ! ” . . 43 

“ Sat at the front window and watched the kitty- 
cat folks”.51 

“ Stuffed it as tight as a drum ”.59 

“ Dressed the rag doll in Betty’s kimono ” . . . -65 

“ He started off with his pack of papers ” . . . .75 

“ He sat down right where he was ”.85 

“ Placed a box in front for a ticket office ” . . .91 

“When it was time for dinner, Buster started a 

fire ”.99 

“ They forgot all about the time”.105 

“ Started to drill just like real soldiers ” . . . .115 

“ They scrambled through the bars ”.127 

“ He slipped and fell”.131 

“ Placed them in a vase on a little stand ”... 143 

“Planted a nice big slip in it ”.. 149 

“When he knocked at the front door Granny Gray 

DID NOT COME ”.I $5 














LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

“ Tried to take a great big bite out. of it ” . . . . 165 

“Just as he toppled over one of the big bundles of 

CORN STALKS ”. 173 

“ He opened his basket of lunch ”.187 

“ Her paws were tucked warm and snug in her 

MUFF ”. 203 

“ She started to mix up the cookies ” . . . . 207 

“ All ready to scoop up a fish ”.221 

“ The ground was white with snow ”.227 

“ Rolled snowballs down the hill ”.237 

“The little automobile ran all right” .... 245 

“ The front wheel struck a rock ”.251 

“ Stood on the stool alongside of her to listen ” . . 261 

“ He had to crawl under a rock ”.269 

a Looked out of the kitchen window ”.275 






THE SANDMAN: HIS 
KITTYCAT STORIES 


i 


THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES 

STORY 

NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 



13 





l 4 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 
would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. ... 

“ It was hot and stuffy in the kittycat 
school and Buster Cuddles, the little kitty 
boy, could hardly keep still. Miss Sallie, 
the lady kittycat teacher of the little kitty 
boys and girls, had all the windows opened, 



THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES STORY 


15 


and Buster could see every butterfly that flit¬ 
ted past and hear the birds chirping to each 
other in the big tree close by. 

“Buster Cuddles! 57 said Miss Sallie, 
“ you’re not listening to one word I’m say¬ 
ing. If you don’t pay more attention to the 
lesson I’ll have to keep you in after school.” 

Now it was quite surprising how quickly 
Buster stopped looking out of the window 
and listened to what Miss Sallie was telling 
the class. It was hard enough to be in school 
during school hours on such a pretty 
summer day, without being kept in after 
school. 

When school let out at four o’clock, Buster 
darted down the lane towards the duck pond 
like a little wild boy. And instead of run¬ 
ning in the middle of the road, he kept as 
close to the fence as he could, so that he 


16 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

could hear the tall grass swish against his 
legs. 

When he reached the duck pond he spent 
some time stirring up the polliwogs along 
shore with a stick. He had on his big straw 
hat, and all of a sudden a puff of wind came 
along and sent it sailing out into the water. 

“ I wish the old wind would stop blow¬ 
ing/’ he growled to himself as he tried to 
pull the hat back to shore with his stick. 

But the more he tried, the more the straw 
hat slipped out from under the end of his 
stick, and each time it bobbed farther away, 
until he could no longer reach it. 

“ I just wish there’d never be any wind! ” 
he grumbled again, as he watched his hat go 
sailing across the pond. And because he 
was cross and tired, he flung himself down in 
the tall grass along the shore. 



TRIED TO PULL THE HAT BACK TO SHORE 




























THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES STORY ig 

The next thing he knew, he heard several 
little voices calling to him, and they sounded 
as bright and clear as sleigh bells on a frosty 
night. 

“ Hello, little bov! ” hailed one. 

“ Wake up and play! ” cried another. 

“Ho! Ho! What fun we're having! ” . 
sang another. 

“ Why — why! ” stammered Buster, look¬ 
ing carefully all around, “ where are you? I 
can’t see you! ” 

“Ha! Ha!” chuckled the little voices, 

“ of course you can’t see us! ” 

“ But who are you? ” asked Buster. 

“ We’re the merry little breezes! ” chimed 
the little tinkly voices together. 

“ We make the flowers nod and kiss each 
other! ” sang one. 



20 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

“ We tickle little boys’ noses as we pass 
by,” declared another. 

“ And sometimes we play a joke on little 
kitty boys by blowing their hats into the 
water! ” giggled the tiniest voice of them 
all. 

“ Ho! Ho! Ho! ” they all laughed to¬ 
gether. 

“ I don’t think that was a bit nice of you,” 

spoke up Buster. cc It blew out of my reach 

% 

and now I’ll lose it.” 

tc Oh, no! ” cried one of the merry little 
breezes, “ all you have to do is to go around 
to the other side of the pond and there you’ll 
find your hat safe and sound. We took 
care to sail it across without sinking it.” 

And before Buster could say a word in re¬ 
ply, the little breezes all shouted good-by 
and went sailing away! But the very last 


THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES STORY 


21 


one of them all tickled Buster’s nose with a 
blade of grass before he went rollicking by. 

“ Why, here’s my hat! ” he exclaimed the 
very first thing, as he looked across the pond 
and saw it bobbing up and down on the other 
side. 

And all the way home he was wondering 
to himself whether the merry little breezes 
really did talk to him or whether he was just 
dreaming. Anyway, they blew his hat off — 
there was no doubt about that. 

And that’s all. 


II 


THE MR. O. SUGAR STORY 



NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 


22 





THE MR. O. SUGAR STORY 


23 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”-— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

No one would have ever thought of call¬ 
ing little Betty Cuddles lazy, but sometimes 
when Mother Cuddles wanted her to do 
something, such as washing the dinner dishes 
or sweeping the kitchen, this little kitty girl 
had a habit of saying, <£ Oh, sugar! ” One 
morning Mother Cuddles needed some 
things from the store and as Betty was the 



24 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

only one there at the time, she asked her to 
get them. 

“ Oh, sugar! 55 grumbled Betty, not very 
loud, you know, but just loud enough for 
Mother Cuddles to hear it. But all the 
same she took up the little basket and started 
off down the street. That same day when 
dinner was over, it was Betty’s turn to wash 
the dishes, but as soon as she got up from 
the table, she darted into the sitting room, 
thinking Mother Cuddles might forget 
whose turn it was and ask one of the others. 
But Mother Cuddles called her back and 
asked her whether she hadn’t forgotten 
something. And, of course, Betty knew at 
once what she meant. 

“ Oh, sugar! 55 she grumbled in the same 
old way. 

“ I’m very much afraid/ 5 remarked Mother 


THE MR. 0. SUGAR STORY 


25 


Cuddles, quietly, 44 that some day Mr. O. 
Sugar will come snooping around to see 
you.” 

“Oh, Mother Cuddles!” exclaimed 
Betty, in alarm, “ do you think he might 4 ? ” 
44 1 shouldn’t wonder,” answered Mother 
Cuddles, 44 you’ve said his name so often 
lately that some day he’ll come around to 
see what you want.” 

So for quite a while after that, Betty was 
very careful not to say his name for fear 
he really would come around as Mother Cud¬ 
dles had said. But one morning she forgot 
herself and out popped 44 Oh, sugar! ” 

For just a moment or two, Betty was so 
frightened that she hardly knew what to do, 1 
but as Mr. O. Sugar, whoever he was, didn’t 
show himself, she began to think that Mother 
Cuddles might have been mistaken after 


26 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

f 

all. So after that, she didn't seem to care. 

One morning, a few days later, Betty for¬ 
got to make her bed as she should have done, 
so when she came home from school, Mother 
Cuddles sent her right upstairs to do it. 

“ Oh, sugar! 55 were the very words she said 
as she went up the stairs. And would you 
believe it, just as she was spreading the sheet 
over the bed, out popped Mr. O. Sugar. 
And Betty was so surprised that she nearly 
tumbled over backwards. And let me tell 
you, Mr. O. Sugar was anything but a pleas¬ 
ant looking little chap. He wore a red 
and white striped suit just like a mint stick. 

“Well, what do you want?” he de¬ 
manded, in such a cross tone that poor fright¬ 
ened Betty couldn't say a word. 

“ Well! Well! ” fairly shouted the little 
candy imp, “ are you deaf? ” 



SHE WAS SPREADING THE SHEET OVER THE BED 
















THE MR. 0. SUGAR STORY 


2 9 


“ Please — please, Mr. O. Sugar,” begged 
Betty, at last, “ I didn't want you at all.” 

Then stop calling me every little while,” 
he told her. 

“ Yes — yes, sir,” stammered Betty. 

“ The next time you call me,” he threat¬ 
ened, “ I’ll come around quicker than you 
can wink and turn you into a lollipop stick 
and all! Now mind what I tell you! ” 

“ Oh, dear! ” gasped Betty, as she turned 
around to see if the door was open behind her 
so that she could run downstairs. And when 
she looked around again, Mr. O. Sugar had 
disappeared. And as quickly as her little 

i 

legs would take her, Betty ran downstairs, 
and never stopped until she flung herself in 
Mother Cuddles’s paws. 

“ Oh, Mother Cuddles! ” she cried, “ I’ve 
seen him! ” 



30 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

“ Seen whom? 55 asked Mother Cuddles. 

“ Why that mean old Mr. O. Sugar/ 5 de¬ 
clared Betty, “ and I 5 m never, never going 
to say his name again, 55 she promised. Nor 
did she from that day to this. 

And that’s all. 


Ill 


THE DISOBEDIENCE STORY 

NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 




31 




32 the SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”—But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Mother Cuddles, the kittycat mother of 
the eight little Cuddleses, had been down to 

' i 

Daddy Fourpaws’ store one day, and bought 
several yards of garden hose. When Daddy 
brought it around to the house, Buster Cud¬ 
dles was in the front yard playing, and, of 
course, he could not help but see what the 
jolly old kittycat storekeeper had in his 
paws. 



THE DISOBEDIENCE STORY 


33 


, “ Oh, Daddy! ” he fairly squealed with de¬ 
light, “ is that a hose to squirt water 
through 4 ? 

“ Well, I guess not,” replied Daddy, with¬ 
out smiling a bit; “ that’s a new kind of bi¬ 
cycle tire and you cut the pieces off as you 
need them.” 

“ Aw, you’re just fooling,” said Buster. 

And when Daddy went on up the garden 
walk chuckling to himself. Buster was sure 
of it. 

After Daddy had gone Buster asked 
Mother Cuddles if he might try the new 
hose. 

“ Maybe it leaks and you won’t know it 
unless I squirt some water through it,” he 
suggested. 

“ You needn’t bother,”- replied Mother 
Cuddles, cc it will wear out soon enough 


34 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

without trying it every little while. And, 
besides, I got it more for sprinkling the 
lawn in dry weather than anything else.” 

“ It looks very dry now, 57 said Buster, as 
he squinted up at the sun with one eye 
closed. 

But as it had rained only the day before, 
Mother Cuddles did not think that the grass 
was very thirsty, so she told Buster to run 
along and play. 

“ And, mind you, don’t touch that hose 
unless I tell you,” she warned him. 

The next afternoon when school was out 
and Buster returned home, he found that 
Mother Cuddles was not there. On the sit¬ 
ting room table was a little note telling him 
that she had gone out for a little while and 
would be back in time for supper. 

The first thing Buster thought about was 


THE DISOBEDIENCE STORY 


35 


the new hose, and after he had searched 
awhile, he found it under the kitchen sink 

“ I’ll just see how it works,” he said to 
himself, as he dragged it out to the 
pump. 

But he had forgotten that one little kitty 
boy can’t pump and sprinkle at the same 
time. So he called over the back fence to 
Laddie Rover, his little kitty playmate who 
lived next door, and asked him to come and 
help. 

In a few minutes Laddie was hard at work 
* pumping the water through the hose while 
Buster was sprinkling. First he sprinkled 
the pine tree in the middle of the lawn and 
then he wet all the flower beds. And after 
that he tried to see how high he could make 
the stream of water fly up into the air. 

And then, all at once, Laddie began pump- 


36 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

mg harder than ever and the little stream 
of water came hissing out of the nozzle so 
fast that it was all Buster could do to hold it 
still. And then just as he turned around to 
tell Laddie not to pump so fast, the end of 
the hose gave a jerky little jump and the 
stream of water flew right through the open 
window, all over the kitchen stove. 

“ Whee-e-e! 55 whistled Buster, “ just look 
what I’ve done! ” 

And do you know, it scared both little boys 
so, that Laddie stopped pumping right away 
and Buster took the hose off the pump and 
put it back under the kitchen sink. Then he 
got a cloth and tried to mop up the water on 
the stove. 

But before he had it half done, Mother 
Cuddles came home and of course Buster 
had to tell her that he had been meddling 



HE SPRINKLED THE PINE TREE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAWN 












THE DISOBEDIENCE STORY 


39 

with the hose after she had told him not to 
touch it. But instead of scolding him, as he 
expected, she never said a word. 

For the next day or two Buster was a very 
good little kitty boy, but it wasn’t very long 
after that before he got into trouble again. 
Mother Cuddles always saved her feathers, 
so that when she wanted to stuff a cushion 
or something like that, she had them to use. 
One day when she went up in the attic, she 
found that she had three bags full of the 
feathers. 

“ Maybe I’d better take them downstairs 
and tie them all up in one package,” she 
said to herself; “ they won’t be quite so 
handy for little paws to get at.” 

So she took them down to the kitchen with 
her and carefully tied them up in one big 
bundle. “ I feel sure they won’t meddle 


4 o THE SANDMAN: HIS K 1 TTYCAT STORIES 

with them now,” she thought, as she laid the 
package on the sitting room table until she 
went upstairs again. 

But she must have forgotten all about 
them, for the next morning the package of 
feathers was still lying on the table. And I 
shouldn’t wonder at all but what her little 
kitty children were curious about it as soon 
as they saw it. 

That same morning before Buster left for 
school, Mother Cuddles told him that she 
was going shopping that afternoon and 
wouldn’t be there when he came home. 

“ Be sure and don’t disturb anything,” she 
added. 

And Buster, of course, said that he 
wouldn’t, but neither he nor his mother hap¬ 
pened to think of the bundle of feathers 
lying on the table. In fact the little kitty 


THE DISOBEDIENCE STORY 


41 


boy had hardly gotten home from school be¬ 
fore he saw them. And that quick he began 
poking at the wrapper with his paw. 

“ My, but it feels soft,” he said to himself, 
“ maybe it’s a new dress for Dolly or 
Tessie.” 

So in order to find out, he decided to tear a 
teeny weeny hole in the wrapper to look, but 
somehow or other his paw must have slipped, 
for he ripped it clear across the top. And 
you ought to have seen those feathers fly! 
It looked for all the world like a blizzard 
only instead of being really truly flakes they 
were feather flakes. 

“ Oh, my!” gasped the surprised little 
kitty, they’re feathers! ” 

And that was just the trouble. If they 
had been apples or potatoes or crackers or 
something like that, he could have easily 


42 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

gathered them up again. But feathers don’t 
seem to want to stay in one place long 
enough to be picked up. 

But Buster did the best he could and for 
the next hour was as busy as could be brush¬ 
ing them together into little piles and gath¬ 
ering them up. And every little bit, he 
would have to sneeze as one tickled his nose. 

By the time Mother Cuddles returned, the 
feathers were pretty well gathered up and 
Buster had been careful to wrap them up 
again 'in another package. Here and there 
you could see a feather or two that he had 
overlooked. And, of course, Mother Cud¬ 
dles knew as soon as she entered the room 
what had happened. But she never said a 
word. 

When supper was ready and Buster sat 
down to the table, there was a big fluffy 



YOU OUGHT TO HAVE SEEN THOSE FEATHERS FLY ! ” 














THE DISOBEDIENCE STORY 


45 


feather lying on his plate. And a moment 
later his little brother, Tommy, picked an¬ 
other one off his jacket sleeve. 

“ Oh, Mother Cuddles,” cried Dolly, sud¬ 
denly, “ look at the feather floating up 
there! ” 

“ It seems very queer, 5 ’ remarked Mother 
Cuddles, “ where all the feathers come 
from.” 

And from then until bedtime the little 
Cuddleses were busy finding feathers. 
That is, all but Buster, who seemed to be 
very much interested in the book he was 
reading. 

But he must have been thinking of 
feathers, too, for that night when bedtime 
came he told Mother Cuddles what he had 
done. 

“ I’m sorry that you’re getting to be such a 


46 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

disobedient little kitty boy/ 5 was all Mother 
Cuddles said, and as Buster cuddled down 
under the cover to go to sleep he felt very 
glad that his mother didn’t seem cross about 
it. 

Now you might think Buster had learnt a 
lesson by this time, but the very next day he 
was as naughty as ever. It was Saturday 
morning, and, of course, there was no 
school. 

Buster had gotten a picture puzzle a few 
days before that, and almost as soon as he 
had eaten his breakfast he went into the sit¬ 
ting room and sat down on the floor to put it 
together. It was a picture of a big ship in a 
storm, and in a little while Buster had fitted 
together all but three pieces of the ship and 
two pieces of a wave. And just as he had 
found a place for another one of the pieces 


THE DISOBEDIENCE STORY 


47 

Mother Cuddles called to him from the 
kitchen. 

“ Buster/ 5 she said, 44 I'll have to have 
some wood right away/ 5 

“ Oh, sugar/ 5 exclaimed Buster, quietly, 
to himself, 44 there’s always something to 
do! 55 

But he knew it wouldn’t do at all to say 
that to Mother Cuddles. 

44 I’ll be right there,” he called instead. 

But there was something about the pic¬ 
ture game that made him forget all about 
what Mother Cuddles had told him to 
do. 

44 Buster,” she called a little later, 44 aren’t 
you ever going to get that wood? ” 

44 Yes’m, just a second,” promised Buster, 
as he tried to fit a piece of wave into the side 
of the ship. 


4 8 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

But it was not until he had all the pieces 
nicely fitted together that he happened to 
think of the wood again. 

“ My! ” he gasped, as he jumped up off the 
floor, “ I’m sure she’ll be cross! ” 

But Mother Cuddles didn’t seem to be a 
bit cross, only she told him as he started for 
the door that she didn’t need any wood as 
she had gotten it herself. 

“ I couldn’t wait until you were through,” 
she added 

Now that afternoon Buster had planned to 
take his little sister, Dolly, down to the duck 
pond for a walk, and as soon as dinner was 
over they started off. 

“ Where are you going, Buster 4 ?” called 
Mother Cuddles out of the window as she 
saw them going down the walk towards the 
front gate. 


THE DISOBEDIENCE STORY 


49 


“ Dolly and I are going for a walk,” an¬ 
swered Buster. 

“ I’m afraid you’ll have to stay in the 
house for the rest of the day,” said Mother 
Cuddles, “ a little kitty boy who doesn’t lis¬ 
ten any better than you do ought to stay at 
home.” 

That was all she said but Buster thought 
it best not to ask any questions for he remem¬ 
bered the different times lately when he had 
failed to obey her. So he walked slowly 
back to the kitchen door with Dolly beside 
him. 

“ Dolly can run out to play if she wants 
to,” said Mother Cuddles. 

“ Please, Mother Cuddles,” pleaded 
Dolly, “ I’d rather stay with Buster.” 

So these two little kitten kiddies sat at the 
front window and watched the kittycat folks 


5 o THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

go past. And every little bit some of their 
own little playmates would go hurrying by. 

“ Ho, Buster! ” called a voice, suddenly, 
just outside the window, and there was 
Jackie Bowser, his little kitty playmate, 
pulling his little sister, Curly, in an express 
wagon. 

“ Aren’t you and Dolly coming out to 
play? ” he asked, as Buster raised the win¬ 
dow. 

<£ I’ve got to stay in the house,” replied 
Buster, sadly. 

“ And I’m going to keep him company,” 
added Dolly, promptly. 

“ Oh! ” said Jackie, just like that. 

“ Oh! ” went Curly too. 

And both little kittens went on down the 
street wondering to themselves what Buster 
had done that he had to stay in the house. 



SAT AT THE FRONT WINDOW AND WATCHED THE KITTYCAT FOLKS 






























■; 



' 







THE DISOBEDIENCE STORY 


53 


As Buster put down the window he had a 
big hard lump in his throat, but it wasn’t be¬ 
cause Mother Cuddles had made him stay in 
the house. It was all because of Dolly. 

“ You’re the best sister a fellow ever had,” 
he declared, as he gave her paw a soft little 
squeeze. And do you know that for fear he 
might have to stay in the house again and 
keep little Dolly in, too, he made up his 
mind to be a better little kitty boy after that. 
And so he was. 

And that’s all. 


IV 


THE RAG DOLL STORY 



NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 


54 



THE RAG DOLL STORY 


55 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Betty Cuddles was coaxing Mother Cud¬ 
dles to let her make a rag doll, and it was 
very hard sometimes for Mother Cuddles to 
refuse her little kitty girl. 

“May I, Mother Cuddles? Please, may 
I, Mother Cuddles?” pleaded Betty. 

“ How big a piece of goods will you 
want? ” asked Mother Cuddles. 

And Betty measured off with her paws 

V 


56 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

how long a piece of the white muslin she 
would like to have. 

“ Goodness! 55 exclaimed Mother Cuddles, 
“ your doll will be almost as tall as you are / 5 

But anyway, Mother Cuddles gave Betty 
a piece of the white muslin just the size she 
wanted and the little kitty girl started in 
to make her rag doll. 

First she doubled the piece of muslin and 
then drew an outline of the doll on the piece 
of cloth with black crayon. And after she 
had cut the two pieces out and sewed them 
together, she decided to make its face before 
stuffing it with excelsior. 

Now, it 5 s not a very easy matter for a little 
kitty girl to draw a dolly’s face, so Betty 
thought it best to try it first on a piece of 
paper. 

“ Oh, Mother Cuddles! ” she cried, as she 


THE RAG DOLL STORY 


57 


came running into the kitchen a moment 
later, “ just look! If you make a face with 
the corners of the mouth turned down, it 
looks just as though it wanted to cry, and if 
you turn the mouth the other way it does 
nothing but smile / 7 

“ It’s the same way with little kitty girls, 5 ’ 
said Mother Cuddles; “ when they start to 
pout the corners of their mouth begin to 
droop, but just as soon as they begin to look 
pleasant again it changes the other way.” 

So Betty decided to put a smiling face on 
her rag doll, and, after she had stuffed it as 
tight as a drum, she took it in the parlor and 
sat it on one of the chairs. 

“ There,” she said, as she patted his little 
round head, £C be a good little doll until I 
come after you.” 

The next day was Tommy’s birthday and 


58 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

Buster had bought his little kitty brother a 
new top for a birthday present. And that 
evening he stayed up until Tommy had gone 

to bed so that he could show it to Mother 

% 

Cuddles. 

Long after Mother Cuddles had gone to 
bed that night, Buster woke up all of a sud¬ 
den, and the first thing that popped into his 
sleepy little head was that he had forgotten 
to put the top away. It was still lying on 
the table downstairs and he was afraid 
Tommy might find it before he got up. 

So he crawled out of bed and started 
downstairs to get it. The moon was shin¬ 
ing brightly outside, and, of course, it 
couldn’t help but peep in through the win¬ 
dow and make enough light for him to see. 

Now Buster didn’t know a single thing 
about Betty making her rag doll and put- 



STUFFED IT AS TIGHT AS A DRUM 















THE RAG DOLL STORY fa 

ting it in the parlor. So it was no wonder 
at all that he gave a little jump of surprise 
when he caught sight of somebody seated in 
one of the chairs in the front room. 

The next instant he was flying up the 
stairs as hard as he could go to tell Mother 
Cuddles. 

“Oh, Mother Cuddles!” he cried, “get 
up right away! There’s some one in the par¬ 
lor! ” 

“ You foolish little kitty boy,” Mother 
Cuddles told him, as she took hold of his 
paw and they went downstairs together, 
“ you surely must be dreaming.” 

“There, didn’t I tell you!” declared 
Buster, excitedly, as they saw a little white 
figure sitting upright in one of the chairs 
near the front window. 


“Well! Well!” laughed Mother Cud- 


62 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

dies, as she went a little closer, “if it isn’t 
Betty’s rag doll! ” 

“Huh!” sniffed Buster, “why does 
she put her old rag doll in a chair like that 
for? ” 

“ Why does a little kitty boy go tramping 
around the house at night for?” asked 
Mother Cuddles. 

“ I came down for the top,” explained 
Buster. 

So Mother Cuddles took him upstairs 
again and tucked him warm and snug in his 
little bed. And two minutes later he was 
sound asleep, dreaming of a whole troop of 
little rag dolls with Betty’s doll marching 
at the head of them. 

The next day, as soon as Buster’s little 
brothers and sisters found out how he had 
been fooled by Betty’s rag doll, they started 


THE RAG DOLL STORY 63 

in to tease him about it. And that made 
Buster very cross. 

“ Just wait till Bettv s not around,” he 

* * 

said to himself, over and over again, “ Til 
show that old rag doll! ” 

So, one day, when he came home from 
school, there sat the stuffed dolly in the big 
armchair as big as life. And hanging on 
the back of the chair was Betty’s kimono and 
her little felt hat. 

<£ Wait till I make you look like Betty,” 
chuckled the little kitty boy, as he dressed 
the rag doll in Betty’s kimono and hat. 

Then he sat the doll in one corner of the 
room and went out into the kitchen to get 
his little toy gun. And would you believe 
it, when he came back into the sitting-room 
he began to shoot at that poor little rag 
doll. 


64 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

Bang! went the first shot and over toppled 
little Miss Rags flat on her back. 

‘ You will scare me, will you 1 ?” cried 
Buster, gleefully, as he sat the doll up for 
another shot. 

And just as he pulled the trigger for the 
second time, in rushed Betty. 

“ Oh, my poor dolly! ” fairly sobbed the 
little kitty girl, as she caught it up and 
squeezed it tight in her paws. 

“ Huh! ” sniffed Buster, “ it’s nothing but 
an old rag doll! ” 

“You’re too mean for anything!” she 
flung back at him, “ and I just wish you 
weren’t my brother at all! ” 

Now Betty didn’t mean anything of the 
kind, for next to Mother Cuddles she liked 
Buster best of all. But she was so angry at 



DRESSED THE RAG DOLL IN BETTY S KIMONO 













THE RAG DOLL STORY 


6 7 


what he had done to her dolly that she didn’t 
stop to think. 

And the only answer Buster gave her was 
to stick his paws in his pockets and leave 
the room whistling to himself. But all the 
time he was wishing to himself that Betty 
hadn’t said what she did. 

It wasn’t more than a dav or two after that 

* 

when Buster complained of a pain in his 
throat and by the time evening came he was 
a very sick little kitty boy. In fact, he was 
so ill that Mother Cuddles put him to bed 
before supper and sent for Doctor Tabby. 

And when the good old doctor cat looked 
at Buster and felt his pulse, he shook his 
head in a serious kind of a way and told 
Mother Cuddles that her little kitty boy 
would have to have the very best of care. 

“ Oh, Mother Cuddles,” whispered Betty, 


68 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

after Doctor Tabby had gone, “ is Buster 
very, very sick? 55 

“ I’m afraid he is, 5 ’ replied Mother Cud¬ 
dles. 

“ Oh, dear! ” sighed the little kitty girl, 
“ if I only hadn’t said what I did about want¬ 
ing him for a brother.” 

And when Mother Cuddles came down¬ 
stairs there sat Betty huddled forlornly in 
the big armchair crying to herself. So 
Mother Cuddles took her in her lap and soon 
learned the whole story from her little kitty 
girl. 

“ There, there,” comforted Mother Cud¬ 
dles, “ Buster will be all right in a day or 
two.” 

And, sure enough, the next day Buster 
felt a little better and Betty could hardly 
wait until she could go upstairs to see him. 


THE RAG DOLL STORY 


69 


And when she did go up, the first thing she 
told him was how glad she was that he was 
getting better. 

“ You don’t know how glad I am,” she 
told him, “ ’cause —’cause —” 

“ ’Cause why? ” asked Buster. 

“ ’Cause you’re my brother and I like you 
ever so much,” whispered his little kitty sis¬ 
ter. 

And it made Buster feel a great deal better 
to know that his little sister wanted him for 
a brother, after all. 

And that’s all. 




V 


THE NEWSBOY STORY 



NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 


70 







THE NEWSBOY STORY 


71 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

In one of the little brick houses of Kitty- 
cat Town lived Mother Dobbie and her lit¬ 
tle kitty children. One of them was called 
Jimmie, and, as they were very poor he sold 
papers every afternoon after school and 
brought what money he made home to his 
mother. 

Well, one day little Jimmie was selling 
papers along Kittyway Lane, when in cross- 


72 THE SANDMAN: HIS ICITTYCAT STORIES 

ing from one side of the street to the other, 
he slipped and fell. Now, it isn't very often 
that a little kitty boy hurts himself when he 
falls, but this time Jimmie twisted his foot. 

“ Oh, my! Oh, my! ” he groaned, as he 
limped to the sidewalk and sat down on the 
curb, “ what shall I do? ” 

And just then along came Binny Ruffles, 
another little kitty boy. “ What’s the mat¬ 
ter, Jimmie? ” he asked the little kitty boy. 

“ I hurt my foot,” replied Jimmie, “ and, 
oh, dear! I don’t know what I’ll do! ” 

“ Can’t you get home if you walk along 
slowly? ” said Binny. 

“ It isn’t that,” answered Jimmie, “ I’ve 
just got to sell my papers ’cause Mother 

Dobbie needs the monev.” 

* 

“ I’ll tell you what let’s do,” suggested 
Binny, “ you start for home right away and 


THE NEWSBOY STORY 


73 


I’ll sell the papers for you. And when 
they’re all sold I’ll bring the money to you.” 

“ Oh, will you? ” cried Jimmie, eagerly. 

So the little newsboy gave Binny all his 
papers to sell, and then started to hobble 

s 

down the street towards home. 

“ Here you are! ” sang out Binny, as he 
started off with his pack of papers. “ Get 
the Kittycat News! All the news! All the 
news! 

And wasn’t it funny that the first one to 
stop and buy a paper, was his old kittycat 
friend, Uncle Buff. 

“ Well, I declare! ” exclaimed the kittycat 
uncle, “ if it isn’t Binny Ruffles selling 
papers.” 

And then, of course, Binny told him all 
about Jimmie hurting his foot and how he 
was trying to sell his papers for him. 


74 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

“ That’s fine ! 55 said Uncle Buff, as he 
handed over a quarter to pay for his paper. 
And when Binny wanted to give him back 
his change, he started to walk off, chuckling 
to himself without taking a penny of it. 

And it was the same way with several of 
the other animal folks who bought papers. 
Just as soon as Binny told them about Jim¬ 
mie, and how poor they were, they gave him 
more than the paper sold for and told him to 
keep the change. 

“All the latest news! All the latest 
news!” shouted Binny, as he fairly ran 
from one side of the street to the other, look¬ 
ing for customers. And all of a sudden, he 
almost bumped into another little kitty 
newsboy. 

“ What are you trying to do? ” sniffed the 
little stranger. “ You must be a greeny or 







u 


}> 


HE STARTED OFF WITH HIS PACK OF PAPERS 











THE NEWSBOY STORY 


77 


you wouldn’t try to sell papers that way.” 

“ How else would you sell them? ” asked 
Binny. 

“Just watch me,” exclaimed the little 
newsboy, as he darted across the street to 
stop a kittycat gentleman who was passing 

by. 

“ All about the big fire! ” he yelled, as he 
poked a paper in front of the kittycat gentle¬ 
man. “ All about the big fire! ” 

“Bless me!” cried the kittycat gentle¬ 
man, as he stopped to buy a paper. “ A big 
fire, you say! Well! Well! I’ll have to 
read about it as soon as I get home! ” 

“ That’s the way you do it! ” boasted the 
little newsboy, as he came skipping back to 
where Binny was standing. 

“ But where was the fire? ” asked Binny. 

“ That’s where I fooled him,” declared the 


78 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

little newsboy, “ there wasn’t any fire at 
all.” 

“ But that’s telling a fib,” said Binny. 

“ You’ve got to fool them to sell the pa¬ 
pers,” answered the little newsboy. 

“ Then I’d rather not sell them,” declared 
Binny, “ if you’ve got to tell fibs. But I’ve 
sold a whole lot anyway,” he went on. 

“ How many did you sell? ” asked the lit¬ 
tle strange kitty boy. 

“ Twenty-five,” announced Binny 
proudly. 

“ Whee-e-e-e! ” whistled the little news¬ 
boy, “ and I’ve sold only twelve.” And as 
he hurried off to sell more, he made up his 
mind that Binny’s way must be the best. 

Well, anyway, Binny soon sold all his pa¬ 
pers, and when he was through, he found 
that he had several dollars to give Jimmie. 


THE NEWSBOY STORY 


79 


And when he saw how happy it made the lit¬ 
tle newsboy, as well as Mother Dobbie, he 
felt repaid for the work he had done. 

And that’s all. 


VI 


THE LION STORY 



NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 


80 





THE LION STORY 


81 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”—But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Uncle Buff, the nice old kittycat gentle¬ 
man of Kittyway Lane, was telling Buster 
Cuddles, the little kitty boy, one day about 
the time he went hunting in the jungle for 
lions and tigers while riding on the back of 
an elephant. And just as soon as he reached 
home, Buster told Mother Cuddles all about 
it. 

“ Oh, Mother Cuddles!” he exclaimed, 



82 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

after he was all through, “ I wish I were 
a hunter and could sit on the back of 
an elephant shooting at lions and ti¬ 
gers. 5 ’ 

‘‘The idea!” said Mother Cuddles. 
“ Who ever heard of a little kitty boy like 
you shooting wild animals? 55 

“ But, Mother Cuddles,” argued Buster, 
“ the lion or tiger couldn’t hurt you ’cause 
you’d be way up high on the elephant’s 
back.” 

“ Yes, but suppose the elephant might 
stumble and throw you over his head,” asked 
Mother Cuddles, “ then what would you 
do?” 

“ Why — why —” hesitated Buster, ££ I’d 
shoot him quick as quick! ” 

“While you were lying on your back?” 
smiled Mother Cuddles. 


THE LION STORY 83 

“ Huh! 55 sniffed Buster,“ it wouldn’t take 
me long to jump up.” 

Well, anyway, the more Buster thought 
about hunting lions and tigers, the more he 
wanted to go. The only trouble was there 
was no elephant about to ride on, and even 
if there had been, there wouldn’t have been 
any fierce looking lion or tiger to shoot. 

Now Buster had a little toy gun that shot 
little pebbles or anything else that was round 
and small. And he felt sure that it would 
be the best kind of a little gun to go shooting 
with. 

So the next Saturday morning when there 
was no school, he made up his mind to go 
hunting for wild animals, and after Mother 
Cuddles had packed him a little lunch to 
carry in his pocket, he started off with his lit¬ 
tle gun over his shoulder. 


g 4 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

In a little while he came to a clump of tall, 
high grass and the first thing he did was to 
poke his little gun in it and say “ shoo! 55 as 
loud as he could. 

And would you believe it just that quick 
he heard something make a funny swish kind 
of a noise. 

“ Woof! ” it went. 

“ Oh, my! ” gasped the little kitty gunner, 
“ what’s that! ” 

“Woof! Woof!” came that sniffily, 
snuffily sound again, and, goodness gracious 
me, out jumped a big yellow lion right in 
front of him. 

And it astonished Buster so that he sat 
down right where he was and stared at the 
lion. 

“ Woof! ” said the lion again right in Bus¬ 
ter’s face. 



HE SAT DOWN RIGHT WHERE HE WAS 













THE LION STORY 87 

“Oh, my! 55 gasped the frightened little 
kitty boy, “ I wish I hadn’t gone hunting.” 

But the big fierce-looking lion didn’t ap¬ 
pear to be very fierce after all, for what did 
he do but walk up to Buster and snuggle 
against him just like a little puppy snuggles 
down in your lap. And then he began to 
purr! 

“ Why, he doesn’t want to gobble me up 
after all,” thought Buster, as he edged away 
a little from the big shaggy head. For even 
if a lion is tame, a little kitty boy doesn’t 
like to sit too close to one. 

And then, all of a sudden, Buster hap¬ 
pened to remember a big colored poster he 
had seen in Daddy Fourpaws store window 
just a few days before telling about Profes¬ 
sor Katz and his wonderful troupe of per¬ 
forming lions. And the picture showed the 


88 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

biggest lion of all jumping through a hoop. 

“ Why, he must be one of the circus lions,” 
decided Buster quickly, “ and maybe he’s run 
away.” 

“ Lie down! ” he shouted at the top of his 
voice, and that quick the shaggy old lion 
dropped down on the grass before him. 

So he pulled a string out of his pocket and 
tied one end of it to the ring in the lion’s 
heavy collar. Then he started off towards 
home with the lion trotting along behind him 
as nice as you please. 

Just as he came to Kittyway Lane he 
caught sight of his little kitty playmate, 
Laddie Rover, and as soon as Laddie spied 
the lion, he started to run down the street 
as fast as his little legs could take him. 

“Don’t be afraid!” Buster yelled after 
him, “ he won’t hurt you! ” 


THE LION STORY 


89 


“ But — but he might,” hesitated the 
little kitty boy, as he stopped and looked 
back. 

“ No, he won’t,” insisted Buster, “ he’s an 
old tame lion that belongs to Profes¬ 
sor Katz’s circus and he must have run 
away.” 

“ Can he perform'? ” asked Laddie, as he 
came a little closer. 

“ Sure he can,” replied Buster, “ just 
watch him.” 

So he got right in front of the lion and told 
him to sit up and beg. And would you be¬ 
lieve it, that nice old lion sat up on his hind 
legs and begged like a little dog. 

“ Now wiggle your paws,” said Buster. 
And, sure enough, the old lion wiggled his 
paws. 

“ Isn’t he great! ” burst out Laddie. 


go THE SANDMAN: HIS K 1 TTYCAT STORIES 

“ I’ll tell you what let’s do/’ suggested 
Buster, “ let’s have a show with him and 
charge every one five bones to get in.” 

“ Maybe Mother Cuddles might not let 
you do it,” Laddie reminded him. 

“ She went to visit Mother Fourpaws,” re¬ 
plied Buster, “ and, besides, a nice tame lion 
wouldn’t hurt any one.” 

So the two little kitty boys led the lion 
home and locked him in the woodshed while 
they made a canvas front for their show. 
And then they printed “ See the Lion,” 
across the top of it in big letters. 

So after they had tied the lion to a post 
back of the canvas front and Buster had 
placed a box in front for a ticket office, they 
told the little animal boys waiting at the 
front gate that the show was ready to start. 
For all the little kitty boys in the neighbor- 



PLACED A BOX IN FRONT FOR A TICKET OFFICE 














THE LION STORY 


93 


hood, you know, had been curious to know 
what Buster and Laddie were doing. 

And you’d be surprised to know how many 
bones those two little boys took in that after¬ 
noon. They had already taken in nearly a 
half a barrel full when all of a sudden who 
should come home but Mother Cuddles. 

And, of course, the first thing she did was 
to go out in the back yard to find out what 
all the little animal children were doing 
there. 

“ Goodness, gracious, Buster Cuddles, 
what are you doing? ” she demanded. “ Oh 
— my! look at that big lion! ” 

“He won’t hurt you, Mother Cuddles,” 
cried Buster, “ he’s tame and he has no 
teeth.” 

“ You lock him right up in the woodshed,” 
said Mother Cuddles sternly, “ do you hear 


94 THE SAMDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

me — this very minute! The very idea! 
It’s a wonder any of you are alive! 55 

So that ended Buster's show, and a little 
later Professor Katz came around and took 
the nice old lion away. But all the same 
every one of the little animal boys in the 
neighborhood thought that Buster and Lad¬ 
die had the dandiest kind of a show. 

And that’s all. 


VII 


THE CHESTNUT STORY 



NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 


95 




9 6 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Old Jack Frost, the merry little fellow 
who pinches your fingers and toes in the win¬ 
ter time and makes the end of your nose 
look like a cherry, had just passed through 

Animal Land. Of course he had not come 

/ 

to stay, but he thought he would make a few 
hours’ visit to see if it was nearly time for 
him to come for good. 

And would you believe it, as he went along 


THE CHESTNUT STORY 


97 


he blew his icy breath here and there until 
the leaves on the trees began to turn from 
green to red and gold. And slowly, very 
slowly, the chestnut burrs began to open, 
showing the ripe brown nuts all ready to pop 
out of their downy nests. 

You can well imagine that it did not take 
the little kittycat folks very long to find out 
that the chestnuts were ripe. In fact, the 
very next day, Buster told Mother Cuddles 
that they had planned to go for chestnuts. 

So the following Saturday morning, the 
little Cuddleses started away bright and 
early for the chestnut woods. Mother Cud¬ 
dles had packed them a big basket full of 
lunch and when they passed by Farmer 
Brisk’s place Buster asked the good-natured 
farmer doggie for some ears of corn to roast 
over a fire. ■ *’ 


9 S THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

Such a lot of chestnuts as they gathered 
you never saw in all your life. And Buster 
was surprised to find out that the kitty girls 
were just as good at finding them as the kitty 
boys themselves. 

When it was time for dinner, Buster 
started a fire and each one of his little broth¬ 
ers and sisters roasted an ear of corn over 
the hot coals on the end of a pointed stick. 
And wasn't that corn just fine! Why, those 
little kittens thought they had never tasted 
anything quite so good. 

Besides the corn they had catnip sand¬ 
wiches and pickles and bananas and cheese 
and currant cookies. Oh, yes! and what else 
do you think they had ? Why, way down in 
one corner of the basket was a bag of candy! 

When they started for home carrying their 
bags of chestnuts, they were all about as 




WHEN IT WAS TIME FOR DINNER, BUSTER STARTED A FIRE 







































. . .. 1 





















. . « 






















t : 

<■ * 

c < 

1 * ‘ “ 









THE CHESTNUT STORY 


IOI 


tired as any little kittens could possibly be. 
And you know how stickly, prickly chestnut 
burrs are. Well, every little kitten had 
their paws just stuck full of those little 
prickers. 

“ Well, I declare!” exclaimed Mother 
Cuddles, when she caught sight of all the 
chestnuts they had brought home, “ what a 
lot of them you have! ” 

Almost as soon as they had eaten their sup¬ 
per, they were ready for bed. And in 
less than five minutes they were sound 
asleep. 

A few mornings after that Buster awak¬ 
ened just as the sun was beginning to peep 
through the window and no doubt he would 
never have awakened as early as he did if 
it hadn’t been for the wind. 

“ Woo-o-o-o! ” it whistled, as it went 


102 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


tearing around the house, first banging a 
shutter and then rattling a window. 

“ My, but it’s windy,” thought the little 
kitty boy, as he snuggled his head down on 
the pillow again to go to sleep. 

And just then he happened to think of 
something. Sleepy as he was, it almost 
made him sit straight up in bed. 

“ I just believe the wind is bringing down 
the chestnuts,” he said aloud, “ and if a fel¬ 
low started out right early he could get all 
he wanted.” 

Now Mother Cuddles, as well as all his 
little brothers and sisters, was sound asleep 
and the next thing that popped into Buster’s 
head was whether he could dress and sneak 
downstairs without any one hearing him. 

So what did he do but crawl quietly out of 
bed and start to dress. And he was just as 


THE CHESTNUT STORY 


103 


careful as could be not to make any noise. 

* 

And would you believe it, not a single one 
of those kittens heard him, not even Mother 
Cuddles. 

When he got downstairs he unlocked the 
door and started off without a bite of break¬ 
fast. And as he trotted along down Kitty¬ 
way Lane towards the chestnut woods, 
he would chuckle to himself every little 
bit. 

“ I guess the other fellows won't get as 
many as I do," he thought, gleefully to him¬ 
self, “ they'll be too sleepy to get up." 

“ Hey, Buster! " yelled some one at that 
very moment, and on looking around there 
came his little kitty chum, Laddie Rover, all 
out of breath from running. 

“ Why — why —" stammered the sur¬ 
prised Buster, “ where are you going? ” 


X 04 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

“ Where are you going? 55 asked his little 
kitty playmate. 

“ I’m going after chestnuts, 5 ’ answered 
Buster. 

“ So am I,” replied Laddie. 

And wasn't it funny that before they 
reached the chestnut woods three other of 
their little kitty friends had joined them. 
They were Tommy Beagle and Dickie 
Whiteface and Jackie Bowser. And every 
one of them had gotten up early to hunt for 
chestnuts. 

Now maybe you think that they all got 
fooled — that there weren’t any chestnuts 
after all. But, goodness me, there were 
more chestnuts in that woods than five little 
kitty boys could pick in a week’s time. 

In fact, they were so busy gathering them 
that they forgot all about the time and when 



THEY FORGOT ALL ABOUT THE TIME 






V 


THE CHESTNUT STORY 


107 


they reached home they found that they were 
going to be late to school. 

And, sure enough, so they were and, of 
course, Miss Sallie, the doggie teacher, 
wanted to know the first thing why they 
were late. 

“Why couldn’t you get here on time?” 
she asked Buster 

“ I went for chestnuts,” explained that lit¬ 
tle kitty boy. 

“ And what excuse have you? ” she asked 
Laddie. 

“ I went for chestnuts, too,” replied Lad¬ 
die. 

And, of course, the other three little kitty 
boys said the same thing. 

“Well! Well!” declared Miss Sallie, 
“ every one seems to have gone after chest¬ 
nuts.” 


io 8 the SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

And instead of telling them to stay in after 
school as she always did when any scholar 
was late she smiled a funny little smile with 
a merry twinkle in her eye and told them to 
take their seats. 

For you see that very morning bright and 
early Miss Sallie had herself been out hunt¬ 
ing for chestnuts. 

And that’s all. 


i 


VIII 


THE SOLDIER BOY STORY 



NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 


109 





XIO 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we 3 ll tell you/ 3 — But then 

m 

he 3 d only tell this story. . . . 

In one of the little brick houses of Kittycat 
Town lived Mother Ruffles, the pussycat 
mother, and her two little kitty children. 
And one of them was a little kitty boy by the 
name of Binny. 

One day Binny sat curled up in the big arm 
chair in the sitting room looking at a picture 
book. And one of the pictures that he 
looked at for a long time, and even went back 


THE SOLDIER BOY STORY 


III 


a little later to take a second look at, showed 
a number of soldiers marching four abreast. 

“ Mother Ruffles,” he asked, suddenly, as 
he glanced up from the book, “ why do they 
have soldiers? ” 

“ Oh, for many reasons,” replied Mother 
Ruffles, “ and one of them is so that no harm 
can befall our little boys and girls.” 

“ But what makes them fight?” insisted 
Binny. 

“ What makes little boys and girls quarrel 
sometimes? ” smiled Ruffles. 

“ ’Cause -—’cause —” hesitated Binny, 
and then he had to stop, for there was a great 
many reasons why little boys and girls 
quarrel sometimes. 

“ Just suppose you were a very naughty 
little kitty boy and you met another little 
kitty boy who had a big red apple,” said 


II2 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


Mother Ruffles, “ and because you were 
bigger and stronger than the other little kitty 
boy, you took the apple from him and kept 
it yourself.” 

“ But that would be wicked,” replied 
Binny. 

“ Well, that’s just why countries go to war 
sometimes and why they have soldiers to do 
the fighting,” explained Mother Ruffles. 
“ And the one who has the most soldiers and 
can fight the best usually wins just as the 
stronger kitty boy gets the apple.” 

“ I wish I was a soldier! ” declared Binny, 
as he took another look at the soldiers in the 
picture marching four abreast. 

“ Maybe some day you will be,” answered 
Mother Ruffles. 

Well, anyway, that same day Binny met 
Uncle Buff, the pussycat uncle who lived 


THE SOLDIER BOY STORY 


113 

nearby, and the first thing he asked him was 
whether he would like to be a soldier. 

“ Bless your heart, no! ” chuckled Uncle 
Buff. “ I’d be so old and stiff I couldn’t 
march a mile! ” 

But suppose there was a big fellow trying 
to sneak something from a little fellow, 
wouldn’t you help the little fellow? ” asked 
Binny. 

“ Yes, sirree! ” declared Uncle Buff. 

“ Then you’d be a soldier sure as any¬ 
thing,” said Binny. 

The next day at school Binny asked all his 
little playmates whether they wanted to be 
soldiers, and every one seemed as eager to be 
a soldier as he was himself. 

“ All right,” Binny told them, “ let’s start 
a company right away and some day we can 
go to war! ”. 


n 4 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

So what did those little animal boys do but 
start to drill just like real soldiers. And 
each one wore a little paper cap on his head 
and carried a little toy gun. 

One day, after school was over, Mother 
Ruffles was out in the front yard when 
she heard a noise up the street. And there 
came a band of little kitty boys march¬ 
ing towards her with Binny at the head of 
them. 

“ Halt! ” ordered the little captain, as he 
came opposite the gate. And each little sol¬ 
dier boy stood still. 

“ Present arms! ” shouted Binny, and up 
flew each little toy gun. 

“Forward march! ” cried the little kitty 
captain again, and off they went just like 
really truly soldiers. 

On up the street they marched until they 







THE SOLDIER BOY STORY 

came to the little brick house where Mother 
Cuddles, the pussycat mother, lived. And 
just as they reached the front gate her two 
little kitty boys, Buster and Tommy, came 
racing down the walk. 

“ Oh, Binny,” cried Buster, eagerly, “ let 

us play soldier, too! 55 

% 

So both little kitty boys got into line with 
the others, each one carrying a little stick for 
a gun. And away they marched again down 
the street to Daddy Fourpaws’ store, and up 
the other side until they came back to Cap¬ 
tain Binny’s house. 

“ Now what will we do? 57 asked one of the 
little kitty soldiers as they halted at the 
gate. 

“ Let’s have a battle,” proposed the little 
kitty captain, “ only instead of using bullets 
we’ll fight with bits of paper.” 


Il8 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


So they all went into the kitchen and tore 
up a lot of papers that Binny found in the 
cupboard until they had a big pile of little 
pieces. And then six of the little soldiers 
stood in a row on one side of the room, and 
that was Captain Binny’s army; and the 

other six little soldiers stood on the other 

# 

side of the room, and that was Captain Bus¬ 
ter’s army. 

“Charge!” yelled Captain Binny, and 
the battle started with both little armies 
pelting each other with bits of torn paper. 
And for a minute or two it looked as though 
a blizzard had broken loose in Mother Ruf¬ 
fles’ kitchen. 

But the battle didn’t last very long for all 
of a sudden the door opened and there stood 
Mother Ruffles herself. And Captain Binny 
at once began to wish that he hadn’t thought 


THE SOLDIER BOY STORY 


1 19 

of playing soldier in the kitchen and throw¬ 
ing all the paper over the floor. 

But Mother Ruffles started to smile and 
didn’t appear the least bit cross after Cap¬ 
tain Binny had told her all about it. 

££ Suppose you clean up every bit of the 
paper right away,” she told him. And Cap¬ 
tain Binny got down on the floor to gather 
up the paper. 

££ And the two little armies had better help 
you,” she added with a merry little twinkle 
in her eye, as she looked at Captain Buster 
and his band of little soldiers. 

So in a very little while they had all the 
paper gathered up and put in a basket to be 
burned. And then Captain Buster and the 
little kitty soldiers marched back home again. 

And that’s all. 


IX 


THE FISHING TRIP STORY 

NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 



120 




THE FISHING TRIP STORY 


121 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Daddy Longears, the pussycat gentleman 
who lived in one of the little brick houses 
of Kittycat Town, had gone fishing one day 
down to the deep pool under the willow 
tree. And when Daddy came home he told 
of the wonderful fish he had hooked and 
how it had finally broken his line and got 
away. 

The first little animal boy to hear about it 



122 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


was Buster Cuddles and the little kitty boy’s 
eyes grew big and round as he was told how 
the big fish had tugged this way and that, 
trying to get away. For of all things, 
Buster dearly loved to go fishing. 

“ Maybe he’s there yet waiting for some 

one else to come along and catch him,” he 

\ 

thought to himself, as he hurried home to 
ask Mother Cuddles whether he could go 
fishing the next day and perhaps catch the 
very fish that Daddy had lost. 

Now when Buster asked Mother Cuddles 
whether he could go fishing, his little sister, 
Betty, was sitting in a chair by the window 
and heard just what he said. And that 
quick she asked him to take her along. 

But Buster didn’t want to bother with his 
little sister, so he told her that little girls 
never go fishing. And little Betty felt so 


THE FISHING TRIP STORY 


123 


disappointed that two big tears came into her 
eyes. 

“ I think it would be very nice if you took 
Betty along with you,” said Mother Cuddles. 
And Buster could tell right away by the look 
on his mother’s face that if he didn’t take his 
little sister with him he might have to stay 
at home himself. So he told her she might 
go, but he didn’t say it in a very pleasant 
tone. 

Now the fishing pool under the big willow 
tree was quite a long distance from the little 
brick house where the Cuddleses lived and 
there were a great many fields to cross 
and a great many fences to crawl over. 
And finally they came to a great big mea¬ 
dow. 

“ Oh, my! ” cried little Betty, as she 
looked over the fence and spied several cows 


I24 the SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

munching the grass, “ just look at those great 
big cows! ” 

“ They won't hurt you,” said Buster, 
“ hurry up and I'll boost you over the 
fence.” 

But Betty wasn’t quite sure that she 
wanted to go into that field with those three 
big cows. She had always been afraid of a 
cow ever since she had been a teeny weeny 
bit of a kitty girl and no matter where she 
saw one she would always try to keep out of 
its way. 

“ Let’s go around into the next field,” she 
suggested, “ and then they can’t catch us.” 

“ Cows can’t catch you,” grumbled her lit¬ 
tle kitty brother, who didn’t like the idea of 
going out of their way just to escape passing 
a few old cows. 

“Yes, they can, too,” insisted Betty, 


THE FISHING TRIP STORY 


125 


“ they’ll knock you down with their horns! 

“ I’ll tell you what to do,” said Buster, 
finally, “ I’ll go down along the fence a little 
ways and call them. And then after they all 
come down to where I am I’ll hurry back, and 
we’ll all run across to the other side.” 

Now Buster had often heard Farmer Brisk, 
the kittycat farmer, who lived down near the 
end of the lane, call his cows in from the 
pasture field, so he went down along the 
fence and called to them at the top of his 
voice. 

“ Coo-o-o! Coo-o-o! Coo-o-o! ” 

And as soon as they heard him call, those 
three cows raised their heads and came run¬ 
ning down the field towards him. And just 
as soon as they got to where he was, he 
started back again to where Betty was wait¬ 
ing. Then they both climbed over the fence 


126 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


and raced across to the other side of the 
held. 

Now no doubt one of those funny old cows 
thought that Buster had a lump of salt in his 
basket or something else of which cows are 
very fond, for away she started across the 
held after them as hard as she could go. 

“Here comes one! 55 panted Betty, look¬ 
ing behind her. “Oh, what will we do! 
Oh, what will we do! ” 

“ Run as fast as you can/’ yelled Buster, 
“ and maybe we can beat her to the other 
side ! 55 

And so they did. Just as they scrambled 
through the bars, the cow came dashing up 
and Buster and Betty were so excited that 
they spilt their lunch out of the little basket 
all over the grass. 

After they had gathered up the lunch and 



“ THEY SCRAMBLED THROUGH THE BARS 













THE FISHING TRIP STORY 


129 


put it back into the little basket they started 
off again. And this time the way led 
through a little woods. 

Before long they came to a deep gulley 
and the only way to get across was over a 
fallen tree that had lain there so long that 
it was covered all over with a slippery kind 
of moss. And timid little Betty was very 
much afraid that if she tried to walk across, 
she would slip and fall. 

“Oh, come on!” cried Buster, as he 
started across the log to show his little sister 
how easy it was. But he was in just a little 
bit too much of a hurry and before he was 
more than halfway across he slipped and 
fell. And if it hadn’t been for his jacket 
catching fast to a broken off limb of the old 
tree he would have tumbled clear down to 
the bottom of the gulley. 



I3 0 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

Betty gave a little scream of fright, and 
without stopping to think of being afraid she 
crept out to where Buster was hanging and 
caught hold of his paw. And after a great 
deal of pulling and tugging, she managed to 
pull him to the top of the log again. And 
for a little while they were so out of breath 
that neither one could say a word. But Bus¬ 
ter felt very glad that his little sister had 
gone along fishing after all. 

In a little while they started off again and 
soon came to the pool under the big willow 
tree. And Buster was so eager to try his luck 
that he could hardly wait until he had his 
line ready. 

“ Oh, Buster ! 55 cried Betty, clasping her 
two little paws together, “ just think if 
you’d catch that great, great big one of 
Daddy’s! ” 





HE SLIPPED AND FELL 
































THE FISHING TRIP STORY 


133 


“ Whee-e-e! ” whistled Buster, “ I wish I 
could! ” 

But for a long time the little cork floating 
on top of the water never moved. Not even 
a minnow nibbled at the bait. 

And then all of a sudden there was a quick 
jerk at the end of the line and the little cork 
disappeared under the water. And up flew 
the little pole and out popped a fish. But it 
was scarcely half as big as the one Daddy 
Longears had hooked. 

“Oh!” cried Betty, in a disappointed 
voice, “ it’s just a little one! 55 

So Buster baited up his hook again and 
threw it in and this time he had to wait even 
longer for a bite. In fact they got so tired 
of waiting that they sat down under the big 
willow tree to eat their lunch. 

After they had eaten the last crumb in the 


I3 4 the SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

little basket, Buster started to fish again and 
in a short time had caught another fish. But 
this one was even smaller than the first, and 
from that time until they were ready to go 
home he didn’t get another bite. 

But just as he was about to pull in his line 
for the last time, there came a sudden jerk 
that almost pulled the pole out of his paws. 
And no matter how hard he pulled, that big 
fish wouldn’t come to the top. It kept dart¬ 
ing this way and that through the water and 
fought so hard to get away that at last he 
had to call to Betty to come help him. 

So they both pulled as hard as they could 
pull until the big fish came to the top and 
was dragged ashore. And it surely must 
have been the very same fish that Daddy had 
hooked for it was every bit as big. 

After that, the two little fishermen started 


THE FISHING TRIP STORY 


135 


for home carrying the big fish between them. 
But instead of going by way of the meadow 
where the cows were they took another path. 
And when they reached home Mother Cud¬ 
dles cleaned the fish for them so that the 
next morning all the little Cuddleses had fish 
for breakfast. 

And that’s all. 


X 


THE FLOWER GIFT STORY 

E upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 

And sometimes little Charles and little John 

136 





THE FLOWER GIFT STORY 


137 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

/ 

Mother Ruffles, the kittycat mother, who 
lived in one of the little brick houses on 
Kittyway Lane with her little kitty children, 
was sick in bed and Binny and Fluffy were 
so lost without her that they hardly knew 
what to do. 

“ If it were only summer time,” sighed 
poor Mother Ruffles, one morning as she 
looked out of the window at the snow cov- 



! 3 8 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

ered ground. “ It wouldn’t be half so hard 
to lie here for then the window would be 

open and you could hear the birds outside.” 

* 

Fluffy was in the room at the time and heard 
what her mother said. So a minute or 
two later she hurried downstairs to find 
Binny. 

“ Oh, Binny! ” she exclaimed to her little 
kitty brother, “ Mother Ruffles was wishing 
it was summer outside, so that she could have 
the window open and hear the birds.” 

“ It won’t be summer until Jack Frost 
goes,” declared Binny with a sorrowful shake 
of his head. 

And just then Fluffy happened to think 
of something. “ Wouldn’t it be nice to get 
her some flowers,” she exclaimed with a little 
jump of delight, <£ and then she could look at 
them and think it was summer time.” 


THE FLOWER GIFT STORY 


x 39 


“Huh!” scoffed Binny, “where would 
you get any flowers now 4 ? Everything is 
frozen up outside.” And it was no won¬ 
der Fluffy’s little face fell, for, of course, 
there would be no flowers blooming until 
spring. 

That same afternoon Binny took a walk 
and while he was trudging along down the 
lane that led past the mill pond he heard 
sleigh bells jingling behind him. And when 
he looked around there came Mrs. Proud- 
puss, the rich kittycat lady, driving her pony 
hitched to a sleigh. 

Now it would be hard to say what scared 
that little pony; whether it was something in 
the road or Binny himself, but, anyway, all 
of a sudden, he gave a jump and landed 
right in the middle of a big pile of snow 
along side of the road. And over toppled 


140 


THE SANDMAN: ITlS KITTY CAT STORIES 


the sleigh and Mrs. Proudpuss fell out into 
the snow. 

And she would have had quite a time 
scrambling out of the snow drift if it hadn’t 
been for Binny. But little kitty boys, you 
know, are a wonderful help in pulling kitty- 
cat ladies out of the snow, and in less than no 
time at all Mrs. Proudpuss was all ready to 
drive on again as though nothing had hap¬ 
pened. 

“ You splendid little kitty boy,” she said 
to Binny, “ how can I ever thank you? ” 
And, do you know, she just insisted that 
Binny get in the sleigh and drive along home 
with her. 

“ Maybe Pll get stuck again,” she 
laughed, “ and, don’t you see, I’ll have you 
right here with me.” 

But the pussycat lady reached home with- 


THE FLOWER GIFT STORY 


141 

out any further trouble and before Binny 
started off she asked him what he would like 
to have most of all. 

<£ Oh, Mrs. Proudpuss!” he exclaimed, 
eagerly, “ if you would only give me a few 
flowers! Mother Ruffles is sick in bed and I 
know they would please her.” 

“ Bless your little heart,” said Mrs. Proud- 
puss, “ you shall have all you want! ” 

And, sure enough, when Binny reached 
home a little later, he had his paws full of 
the nicest kind of flowers out of Mrs. Proud- 
puss’s hot house. And Fluffy was just as de¬ 
lighted over them as he was. 

< The little kitty girl rushed upstairs and 
told Mother Ruffles that they had a big sur¬ 
prise for her and that she was to close her 
eyes and not peep even a teeny weeny bit 
until they told her. 


142 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


So Mother Ruffles closed her eyes while 
Binny brought up the flowers and placed 
them in a vase on a little stand near the bed 
so that his mother could see them. And then 
they told her to open her eyes. 

Now if you were a sick kittycat mother in 
bed and had two little kitty children to bring 
you flowers, no doubt you would cry just a 
little bit, too, the same as Mother Ruffles 
did. „ 

“ All I have to do , 55 she said in a happy 
little whisper, “ is to look at these pretty 
flowers and forget all about the cold weather 
outside.” 

“ And, Mother Ruffles,” spoke up Binny, 
cuddling his little paw in hers, “ when they 
are wilted maybe I can get you some more. 
Maybe Mrs. Proudpuss will get stuck in the 
snow again,” he finished, eagerly. But by 



PLACED THEM IN A VASE ON A LITTLE STAND 








THE FLOWER GIFT STORY 


H 5 


the time those flowers were wilted Mother 
Ruffles was entirely well again. 

Now in the big bay window on the eastern 
side of the house, where Mother Ruffles kept 
her flowers in the winter time, stood a little 
geranium plant. And it would have been 
hard to find a nicer place for a flower plant to 
live. 

Each morning when it was clear, the sun 
shone bright and warm through the bay win¬ 
dow, and the geranium plant felt as snug and 
contented as it did when it stood out in the 
flower bed in the summer time. The only 
thing it missed were the gay butterflies flut¬ 
tering overhead and the fairy whisperings of 
other growing things. But even so, it was 
very, very happy. 

One day there appeared a tiny shoot at the 
top of the plant with a cluster of little buds 


I4 6 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

and under the coaxing touch of the warm 
sunshine they grew larger and larger, 
until finally they burst their little green 
coats and became a beautiful crimson flower. 

Fluffy was the first one to discover the 
handsome flower, and she was so eager to tell 
Mother Ruffles that she raced into the 
kitchen as hard as she could go. 

“ Oh, Mother Ruffles / 7 she cried, “ there’s 
a big red flower on the geranium stalk.” 

“ You don’t mean it? ” declared Mother 
Ruffles, looking every bit as pleased about it 
as Fluffy herself. 

And it was quite surprising how that little 
geranium stalk did grow. It got bigger and 
bigger every day and finally it had three 
crimson blooms instead of only one. 

One day when Fluffy came home from 
school she had a very sad story to tell Mother 


THE FLOWER GIFT STORY 


14 7 


Ruffles, and when she was all through, two 
big shiny tears stood in her eyes. 

“ Poor little Dottie Cream had to go to the 
hospital,” was what she told her mother, 
“ and the teacher says it may be a long, long 
time before she can come back to school 
again.” 

And both Fluffy and Mother Ruffles felt 
very sorry for poor little Dottie. 

And do you know that for several days 
after that, Fluffy kept thinking of her poor 
little kitty friend, and the more she thought 
about it the sorrier she felt. 

“ Pm just going to take her something 
nice,” she said to herself one day, “ and per¬ 
haps it will make her feel better.” 

So that afternoon as school let out, she 
hunted up a flower pot and planted a nice big 
slip in it that she cut off the geranium stalk 


I 4 8 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

in the bay window. She was very careful 
to cut off a slip that had one of the crimson 
flowers on it. 

“ There,” she said happily to herself, “ I 
just feel sure it will please Dottie.” 

And, sure enough, when she took Dottie 
her little geranium stalk, the poor little sick 
kitty girl was so pleased that she hardly knew 
what to say. And for the rest of the 
day she was much too happy looking at 
her new flower plant to think about being 
sick. 

Now it happened that Mother Ruffles had 
gone out that afternoon and, of course, she 
knew nothing about what Fluffy had done. 
And wasn’t it funny that Fluffy and she 
should get home about the same time and 
that the first thing that Mother Ruffles 
should notice when they entered the sitting 



PLANTED A NICE BIG SLIP IN IT 

































THE FLOWER GIFT STORY 


151 

room was that some one had cut off a branch 
of her geranium stalk. 

And there was no other plant there that 
Mother Ruffles was quite so proud of as her 
geranium. And when Fluffy told her about 
cutting off the slip she felt very sorry. But 
as soon as her little kitty girl reached that 
part where she took it to her little sick friend 
at the hospital, the disappointed look faded 

from Mother Ruffles’ face. 

# 

“ It’s all right, honey,” she smiled down 
into Fluffy’s perplexed little face as she 
thought of the time she had been sick and her 
two little kitties brought her flowers. “ I’m 
sure that it made poor little Dottie feel very 
happy.” 

And that’s all. 


XI 


THE TEA STORY 

NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 




152 




THE TEA STORY 


153 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”—But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . 

Granny Gray, the nice old kittycat lady 
was a great friend of the little kitty boys and 
girls. She lived in a little brick house not 
so very far away from Kittyway Lane and 
nothing pleased her more than when the lit¬ 
tle animal children came to see her. 

Well, one day, Mother Ruffles asked her 
little kitty boy, Binny, to go out to Granny 
Gray and take her a basket of peaches. 


I54 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

“ We have so many that we won't be able 
to use them all,” said Mother Ruffles, “ and I 
feel sure that Granny Gray will be glad to 
have some." 

And, of course, Binny was ready to go, as 
all the little kitty boys were just as glad to 
visit Granny Gray as the kittycat lady was 
to have them come. So Mother Ruffles put 
some of the peaches in a little basket, and 
away he went down the street until he came 
to the little lane that led to Granny Gray’s. 

And it seemed very queer that when he 
knocked at the front door Granny Gray did 
not come to open it. It was very seldom that 
the kittycat lady left the house as she was 
getting too old to walk about. 

“ Maybe she’s taking a nap,’’ thought 
Binny, as he knocked a little harder. 

This time he heard a weak little voice tell- 


THE TEA STORY 


157 


ing him to come in. So he opened the door, 
and as soon as he stepped inside he saw 
Granny Gray sitting in the big rocking chair 
looking very sick and feeble. 

“ Why — why, Granny Gray,” he stam¬ 
mered, “ what’s the matter 4 ? ” 

“ I hurt my foot so that I can’t walk on it,” 
exclaimed poor Granny Gray, “ and here 
I’ve been sitting since early morning. Oh, 
dear! Oh, dear! ” she sighed, “ I can’t even 
get myself a cup of tea.” 

Now no doubt you know that old kittycat 
ladies want a cup of tea now and then just as 
little boys and girls want a bit of candy. 
And Binny felt very sorry for Granny Gray 
that she had to do without her tea. 

And after he had given her the peaches he 
started back home as fast as he could go, but 
before he had gone very far, he met Miss 


I5 g THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

Prim, the kittycat lady who lived in one of 
the little brick houses close by. 

“ Oh, Miss Prim,” he exclaimed, “ poor 
Granny Gray hurt her foot and she can’t 
even make herself a cup of tea! ” 

“ Well, isn’t that too bad! ” declared Miss 
Prim. 

A little further on Binnv met Mother 
Fourpaws, and, of course, he told her the 
same thing about Granny Gray and her tea. 
And do you know before he reached home six 
other animal folks knew about it. 

And all of them seemed to be as sorry as 
could be that Granny Gray had to do with¬ 
out her cup of tea. In fact as soon as Binny 
told his mother, she declared that she was go¬ 
ing out to Granny’s right away and make her 
a big pot of tea. 

So she put on her bonnet and started off, 








THE TEA STORY 


159 


with a little package of tea in one paw and a 
little bag of sugar in the other. And Binny 
went with her as he wanted to see his nice 
old friend drink her tea. And wasn’t it 
funny that they found Miss Prim and 
Mother Fourpaws and several other animal 
ladies already there. And each one had 
brought a little package of tea and some 
sugar. 

So they made that poor old kittycat lady 
not fewer than a half dozen cups of tea and 
she drank at least three of them. And be¬ 
fore Binny left with Mother Ruffles, she pat¬ 
ted him on the head and told him to come 
around as soon as she was well again and she 
would bake him a nice little turnover pie. 

And that’s all. 


XII 


THE CORN ON THE COB STORY 


CE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 



house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 


i6q 



THE CORN ON THE COB STORY ifc 

would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

In one of the little brick houses of Kitty¬ 
way Lane lived a kittycat mother by the 
name of Mother Ruffles and her two little 
kitty children. One of them was a little 
kitty boy by the name of Binny and the 
other was a little kitty girl by the name of 
Fluffy. 

- One day Mother Ruffles planned to go 
visiting and she decided to take her two little 


162 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

kitty children with her. But while Fluffy 
wanted to go, Binny told her that he would 
much rather stay at home by himself. 

“ All right,” said Mother Ruffles, “ but 
don’t forget that you won’t have mother here 
to get your dinner.” 

And, do you know, that Binny thought it 
would be the greatest kind of fun to get din¬ 
ner for himself. He had often watched 
Mother Ruffles do it and it didn’t appear 
hard at all. 

So as soon as Mother Ruffles and Fluffy 
had left the house, Binny began to think of 
getting dinner, and, of course, one can’t get 
dinner without first knowing what to get. 
And the more he thought about it, the harder 
it seemed to be. 

The day before Mother Ruffles had cooked 
some corn on the cob, and if there was one 


THE CORN ON THE COB STORY 163 

thing he liked above all else it was sweet 
corn. So he made up his mind to have corn 
on the cob. 

But when he went down in the cellar to get 
it, there wasn’t a single ear of it left. 
Mother Ruffles had used every bit of it the 
day before. 

So he decided to go out to Farmer Brisk’s 
and get some more. And when he reached 
there he found the kittycat farmer so busy 
taking out potatoes that he didn’t have time 
to stop to get it. 

“ Suppose you go out and pull it off your¬ 
self,” suggested the jolly old kittycat 
farmer. 

So Binny started off to the corn field, but 
instead of turning to the right at the end of 
the pasture lot as Farmer Brisk had told him, 
he turned to the left. And that took him 


164 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

straight to where the field corn grew instead 
of the sweet corn. 

And Binny never dreamed but that he was 
getting sweet corn when he pulled off a 
dozen ears and placed them in his basket. 
And all the way home his mouth fairly wa¬ 
tered at the thought of having that good, 
juicy sweet corn for dinner. 

The first thing he did on getting home was 
to put the kettle of water on to heat and then 
dropped in a pawful of salt just as he had 
seen Mother Ruffles do. And after the 
water had started to boil, he put in several 
ears of corn. 

In a little while he decided it had cooked 
enough so he took it out and put it on a plate 
on the table. Then he pulled up his chair, 
and picking up one of the ears, he tried to 
take a great big bite out of it. 



m 








pfliil 




Pferf' 

■ ■ 

mgiil - 

e ■■■:■. ■. • : v 








yy-y. 


■■■■■ 


TRIED TO TAKE A GREAT BIG BITE OUT OF IT 









THE CORN ON THE COB STORY 167 

And, do you know, that very first bite sur¬ 
prised him so that he nearly dropped the ear 
out of his paws. 

For instead of being nice, juicy sweet corn 
as he had supposed, it was dry and tough. 
In fact, he could hardly bite it at all. 

44 Maybe Farmer Brisk didn’t tell me the 
right place to go,” he thought to himself, 
never thinking that it was his own fault 
for not listening. So instead of having 
sweet corn for dinner he had bread and 
jam. 

When Mother Ruffles returned home that 
afternoon the first thing she saw was the 
plate of corn sitting on the cupboard. 

“ Why, Binny! ” she exclaimed, “where 
did you get the corn 4 ? ” 

44 1 got it at Farmer Brisk’s,” explained 
Binny, 44 and it isn’t sweet at all.” 


168 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 


“ Well, I guess it isn't, 55 declared Mother 
Ruffles, “ for it 5 s nothing but old tough field 
corn. 55 

And that 5 s all. 


XIII 


THE BUNNY NEST STORY 



NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 




l JO THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

One day Buster Cuddles, the little kitty 
boy, took a walk out to Farmer Brisk’s place, 
as he often did, and when he reached the big 
red barn he found the kittycat farmer inside 
cutting fodder. “ Well! Well! ” declared 
Farmer Brisk, as soon as he saw who it was, 
“ you’re the very little boy I want to see.” 

Now there was nothing pleased Buster 
half so much as to have the kittycat farmer 


THE BUNNY NEST STORY 


l?l 

ask him to help to do something about the 
farm, and he felt sure that was just what he 
wanted. “ How would you like to go out in 
the corn field and cut down some of the corn 
shocks/’ he asked, “ so that they will be all 
ready to gather up when I drive out with the 
big wagon? 55 

And Buster was so eager to go that he 
started off without taking the corn cutter 
with him. The corn cutter is a big, long 
bladed knife that is used to cut off the corn 
stalks that are still fast in the ground and 
keep the shock from falling over. 

“ Whoa-a-a! ” sang out Farmer Brisk, 
with a merry twinkle in his eye, and Buster 
stopped and turned around to see what he 
wanted. “ Don’t you think you’d better 
take this along? ” asked the kittycat farmer 
as he held out the corn cutter. 


i 7 2 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

■ “ Oh, I forgot,” answered the little kitty 

boy as he ran back to get it. 

“ Now be careful,” the kittycat farmer 
told him, “ it’s quite sharp and you might 
cut yourself.” So Buster promised to be 
careful, and then started off for the corn field 
as fast as he could go, to where the big shocks 
of corn stalks stretched in rows clear across 
the field. And a little while later he was 
hacking them off with his big, long-bladed 
knife. And then all of a sudden, just as he 
toppled over one of the big bundles of corn 
stalks, he heard a queer, squeaky kind of a 
noise close to his feet, and there were several 
pairs of wobbly little ears sticking up out of 
the dried grass. 

“Why it’s a little bunny’s nest! ” he al¬ 
most shouted, as he knelt down beside it and 
pulled the dried grass apart to look. And, 



-W 


JUST AS HE TOPPLED OVER ONE OF TIIE BIG BUNDLES OF CORN 

STALKS ” 





















THE BUNNY NEST STORY 


175 


sure enough, there were three little baby bun¬ 
nies, snug and warm in their little nest, in a 
hole in the ground. 

“You poor little things!” cried Buster, 
as he lifted each one out of the nest and 
cuddled it up in his paws, without stopping 
to think that they would be much better off 
where they were. 

44 I wonder what I’ll do with them,” he 
thought to himself, 44 if I leave them here 
maybe some greedy old fox will find them 
and gobble them up.” So he decided to take 
them home to Mother Cuddles. 

So Buster carried them home and told 
Mother Cuddles where he had found 
them. 

44 Why, Buster, what made you bring them 
away*? ” asked Mother Cuddles, as soon as 
she saw how little they were. 44 What will 


176 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

their poor mother do when she comes back 
and finds them gone? ” 

And even though he told her about the 
greedy old fox Mother Cuddles told him to 
carry them right back to their nest. 

“ I just know he’ll come snooping around 
and gobble them up,” he repeated over and 
over again on his way back to Farmer Brisk’s 
corn field. And bright and early the next 
morning, as soon as he had eaten his break¬ 
fast, he ran nearly the whole way to the corn¬ 
field to find out if the three little bunnies 
were still safe in their nest. But just as he 
had expected every last one of them were 
gone. 

“ There, I just knew it would happen,” he 
almost sobbed, “ if I only hadn’t taken them 
back.” 

But the greedy old fox did not take them 


THE BUNNY NEST STORY 


177 


after all, for Buster had hardly put them 
back in the nest the day before when the 
mother bunny returned and found the corn 
shock overturned. So what did she do but 
carry them off to a nice warm nest in an old 
hollow log nearby, where the greedy old fox 
couldn’t find them if he wanted to. 

And that’s all. 


XIV 


THE CAVE STORY 



NCE upon a time there was 
\ a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
]] green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 


house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 






THE CAVE STORY 


179 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Right through the middle of Kittycat 
Town ran a pretty little street called Kitty¬ 
way Lane and very often the little kitty boys 
and girls would take a long walk down 
Kittyway Lane until the little brick houses 
were left far behind them. And when they 
came to the big red barn of Farmer Brisk, the 
kittycat farmer, they would crawl under the 
fence and go tramping along through a daisy 


180 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

field. And before very long they would 
come to a wood, a big, cool, shady kind of a 
place, with big piles of rocks piled here and 
there. And many a frolic did the little ani¬ 
mal children have among these rocks in the 
wood. 

One morning Buster Cuddles, the little 
kitty boy, started off all by himself for a 
walk and almost before he knew it he had 
reached the rocky spot in the woods. And it 
wasn’t a bit lonely there as all the birds were 
talking and scolding at once and trying to 
tell each other that they should be very care¬ 
ful and not get too close to that strange little 
kitty boy. But then, you see, they did not 
know that Buster would not hurt them. 

There were a great many flowers about 
and Buster made up his mind to pick a big 
bunch of them for Mother Cuddles. As he 


THE CAVE STORY ^ 

walked about, picking one here and there, 
he came to an opening between two 
rocks. 

“ I wonder where it goes to,” thought the 
little kitty boy, as he stuck his head inside 
and tried to look around. 

“ It must be a cave,” he said to himself, 
and to make sure that there were no wild 
animals about he gave a shout. 

“Boo!” he yelled. 

And he had hardly said it before a voice 
in the cave said the same thing. 

“ Boo-o-o! ” it went. 

“ Hello! ” shouted Buster. 

“ Hello-o-o! ” came the answer. 

“ Oh, I know what it is! ” cried Buster, de¬ 
lightedly, “ it’s my echo! ” 

And, sure enough, that’s just what it was. 
If Buster had said ice-cream that funny voice 


182 the SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

inside the cave would have wanted ice-cream 
too. 

Well, anyway, Buster finally went inside 
the cave and everything was nice and dry, 
only it was very dark inside and he thought 
it best to keep close to the opening. And 
just as he was about to come out again he 
heard some one moving about outside. 

So he peeped out to see who it was and 
there was Sminky Crow, the same little kitty 
boy who was always trying to play tricks on 
the other animal children. And Buster at 
once made up his mind to play a trick on him. 

“ Til make believe I’m a bear,” he decided, 
as he started to growl like the big shaggy 
bears do in the circus wagon. 

“ Gr-r-r-r! ” he went. 

And you ought to have seen Sminky pull 
his head away from the mouth of the cave 


THE CAVE STORY ^3 

just as he was looking in. Why, he was so 
surprised that he tumbled over backward. 

“ Gr-r-r-r! 55 growled Buster again, and 
this time he made it sound a little bit fiercer. 

“ It’s a bear! It’s a bear! ” yelled 
Sminky, and started for home as fast as he 
could go. 

And when Sminky reached Kittyway Lane 
he told everyone he met about the big bear he 
had heard over in the wood near Farmer 
Brisk’s. 

“ He growled like he was awful cross,” de¬ 
clared Sminky to Uncle Buff, the kittycat 
gentleman who lived close by; “ it was 
enough to make your fur stand up ! 55 

And when Buster came home a little later 
and told Uncle Buff who the bear really was 
it made the doggie uncle laugh so hard that 
the tears came to his eyes. 


184 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

A few days after that Buster made up his 
mind to go out to the woods again and spend 
the afternoon there looking around. So 
he asked Mother Cuddles to pack him a 
lunch and when he left home he car¬ 
ried a little basket of sandwiches in his 
paw. 

He would liked to have had one of his 
little playmates go with him, but he didn’t 
see a single one of them to ask. The only 
one he saw was Fluffy Ruffles, and, of course, 
little kitty girls are too timid to go exploring 
caves. 

When he reached the woods he had no 
trouble at all in finding the hole in the rocks 
and this time he crawled right in without 
stopping to find out whether there were any 
wild animals about. 

He had brought a little piece of candle 


THE CAVE STORY ^5 

with him and as soon as he got inside he lit 
it to see what the place looked like. 

It was just like a little room and here and 
there all over the walls were bits of sparkly 
rock that glittered like so many diamonds. 
And then there were other strange things 
found only in caves. 

By this time Buster was beginning to feel 
hungry, so he opened his basket of lunch and 
took out a sandwich. And just as he took 
the first bite he caught sight of another open¬ 
ing at the other end of the cave. 

“ I wonder where that goes to , 55 he said to 
himself, and he became so curious about it 
that he could hardly wait until he had eaten 
his lunch so that he could go see. 

But finally every crumb had disappeared, 
and after putting his napkin carefully back 
into the basket he walked over to the hole in 


186 THE SANDMAN: HIS K1TTYCAT STORIES 

the wall. And there on the other side was 
another cave even larger than the first one. 

After Buster had scrambled through the 
opening, he found that this cave had three 
places to go out instead of only one and each 
one led into still another cave. Without 
stopping to think that he might get lost he 
kept on going, until all of a sudden his 
candle gave a final splutter and went out. 
And there he was all alone in the dark. 

Buster was a brave little kitty boy, but 
even a brave little kitty boy doesn’t like to 
get lost in a dark cave. He could not help 
but think that perhaps he would never see 
Mother Cuddles again and he had to blink 
hard to keep back the tears. But he knew 
that standing still would never get him out 
so he started to grope his way around the 
wall. 




















THE CAVE STORY 


189 


Finally he came to one of the openings and 
crawled through. And then around he went 
until he came to another opening, and in this 
way he at last came to the first cave. And 
there before him was the little hole in the 
rocks with the sun shining brightly outside. 

When he got outside he started to run and 
never stopped until he burst in on Mother 
Cuddles like a little wild boy. 

“ Oh, Mother Cuddles! Oh, Mother Cud¬ 
dles! ” he fairly sobbed, as he buried his hot 
little face in her lap. And in a little while 
he was able to tell her how he had lost his 
way in the cave. And Mother Cuddles must 
have been very glad to see her little kitty boy 
again for she hugged him a little tighter and 
gave him a kiss. 

And that’s all. 


XV 


THE SEED PLANTING STORY 


CE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 



painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 


house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 




THE SEED PLANTING STORY 


191 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

When spring first came to Kittyway Lane 
there was hardly a warm, sunshiny day that 
Betty Cuddles, the little kitty girl, didn’t 
think of planting flower seeds. And some¬ 
times twice a day she would run to Mother 
Cuddles and ask her whether it wasn’t soon 
time to start the garden. But Mother Cud¬ 
dles would shake her head and tell her that 
the ground was still too wet and cold. 


192 the SANDMAN: HIS K1TTYCAT STORIES 

“Just a few days longer and then we can 
start to plant the seeds , 55 she promised. 

But little Betty couldn’t quite understand 
why it wasn’t time to plant the flower garden 
when the trees were full of robins and even 
the grass on the front lawn was beginning 
to turn green. 

“ Maybe you’ll wait too long,” she de¬ 
clared, “ and then we’ll have no flowers at 
all.” 

“You foolish little kitty girl,” smiled 
Mother Cuddles, “ why even the violets 
haven’t wakened yet from their winter nap.” 

But all the time the weather was getting 
warmer and warmer, and one day Mother 
Cuddles told her that it was time to plant 
the sweet pea seed. And Betty was the hap¬ 
piest little kitty girl in Kittycat Town. 

After her little kitty brother, Buster, had 


THE SEED PLANTING STORY 


193 


dug up the flower bed and made all the 
lumps nice and fine so that the little shoots 
would have no trouble in getting to the top, 
Betty took her little rake and went out to 
plant the seeds. And before she left the 
house she put on her big straw hat just like 
all little gardeners do. In a short time she 
had all the seeds dropped in the ground and 
carefully covered over. And last of all she 
smoothed the top with her rake. 

“ Now / 5 she said happily to herself, 
“ they’re all ready to grow.” 

But would you believe it that very same 
afternoon a band of big black crows came 
flying along and the first thing they spied 
was Betty’s flower bed. And down they 
came and scratched up at least half the seeds 
that she had planted. And when Betty saw 
what they had done she nearly cried. 


194 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


“ Now Im sure we won’t have any 
flowers,” she said to Mother Cuddles. 

But Mother Cuddles told her not to mind 
and gave her another little bag of seed to 
plant. And this time, after they were all 
planted, she covered the flower bed over with 
brush so that the band of little crow robbers 
couldn’t get there to scratch. 

Now it just seemed as though little Betty’s 
seeds were not to grow for that night it got 
so cold that the next morning the ground was 
frozen hard. 

‘‘They’re frozen! They’re frozen!” re¬ 
peated the little kitty girl over and over 
again. “ And now what shall I do? ” she al¬ 
most sobbed. 

“ It won’t hurt them one bit,” said 
Mother Cuddles, “ and if you’ll only wait a 


THE SEED PLANTING STORY 


195 


little while they’ll come up as nice as any 
seeds you ever saw/’ 

But Betty felt sure that the seeds were all 
frozen and as soon as the weather got warm 
again she begged her mother for another lit¬ 
tle bagful. And for the third time she 
dropped the seeds into the ground and cov¬ 
ered them over. 

And just as Betty was beginning to feel 
that her little flower garden might grow after 
all, it started in to snow and the big feathery 
flakes came coming down so fast that the 
ground was all covered white. And this 
time she felt so badly about it that the tears 
really came. 

“Please, Mother Cuddles,” she begged, 
the next day after the snow had all dis¬ 
appeared, “ please may I plant some more 
seeds? ” 


I 9 6 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

“ Not another one,” declared Mother Cud¬ 
dles, firmly, “ that little snow didn't hurt 
them one bit.” 

And, sure enough, Mother Cuddles was 
right, for it wasn't very long after that be¬ 
fore the little green shoots began to push 
their way through the ground. And such a 
bed of sweet peas none of the other kittycat 
folks had ever seen before. 

And it was no wonder they were all sur¬ 
prised, for at least half the seeds came up 
that the crows hadn't got and all the seeds 
came up from the second planting, and it was 
the same way with the seeds that were 
snowed under. Why, do you know, the lit¬ 
tle stalks were so close together that they had 
£- 

to push and shove like everything to find a 
place to grow. But, anyway, little Betty 
was quite happy that she had so many. Nor 


THE SEED PLANTING STORY 


197 


did she forget to give a big bunch of the 
flowers to each one of the kittycat neighbors. 
And that’s all. 


XVI 


THE BIRTHDAY STORY 



NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 




THE BIRTHDAY STORY 


199 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Betty Cuddles, the little kitty girl, had 
hardly left the schoolroom at recess time 
when Mazie Dobbie, a little kitty playmate 
of hers, came running up looking as though 
she was very much excited about something 
or other. 

“ Oh, Betty!” she cried, what do you 
think?” 

cc I couldn’t guess at all,” srpiled Betty, 



200 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


“You wont tell, will you'? 1 ’ begged 
Mazie. 

And Betty crossed her heart and promised 
not to say a word. 

“ Saturday is Mother Dobbie’s birthday,” 
announced Mazie with a happy smile. 

“Oh, is it?” cried Betty, eagerly. 
“Aren’t you glad! I know I am when it’s 
Mother Cuddles’s birthday, and we always 
give her presents.” And, would you believe 
it, instantly the happy smile faded from 
Mazie’s face. 

“ Oh, dear! ” thought Betty to herself, as 
she saw how sad her little kitty friend 
looked. “ I forgot all about their being too 
poor to buy birthday presents.” 

“ Please, Mazie,” she begged, “ don’t feel 
badly because you can’t buy Mother Dobbie 
a birthday present. Maybe she will get 


THE BIRTHDAY STORY 


201 


some after all.” And for the rest of the day 
kind-hearted little Betty thought of nothing 
else but how to get Mother Dobbie a birth¬ 
day present, and it was not until sup¬ 
per-time that an idea popped into her 
head. 

“ I know! I know! ” she cried, suddenly, 
in such a shrill, eager tone that her seven 
little brothers and sisters fairly jumped. 
And while she was washing the supper dishes 
she told Mother Cuddles all about it. 

“ Don’t you think it would be nice, 
Mother Cuddles? ” she asked. 

“ Indeed it would,” replied Mother Cud¬ 
dles, heartily, “ and I will be the first one to 
help.” 

The next day as soon as school was out 
Betty started off down Kittyway Lane to call 
on some of the animal folks. She had on her 


202 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


little coat and her big felt hat and her paws 
were tucked warm and snug in her muff, so, 
you see, even if it was snowing she didn’t 
mind one bit. 

The first one she called on was Miss Prim, 
and as soon as she told her about Mother 
Dobbie’s birthday present, the kittycat lady 
promised to help. 

“ Don’t forget to send it Saturday morn¬ 
ing,” reminded Betty, as she started off down 
the street again. 

Now I won’t try to tell you of all the ani¬ 
mal folks Betty called on about Mother Dob¬ 
bie’s birthday, but I feel sure that there were 
very few on Kittyway Lane that did not hear 
about it. And the nicest part of it was that 
they all seemed eager to help. 

That same evening Betty thought of an¬ 
other surprise that she felt sure would be nice 



HER PAWS WERE TUCKED WARM AND SNUG IN HER MUFF 




? 


■ 


hM fe"-V 

i' : - ■ . . 










THE BIRTHDAY STORY 


205 


for Mother Dobbie’s birthday so the next 
morning at school she told three of her little 
playmates about it. And Lassie and Fluffy 
and Curly, the three little kitty girls, thought 
it would be too jolly for anything. 

“ We’ll put everything in a basket and 
take it around to Mother Dobbie’s Saturday 
morning, 5 ’ planned Betty, “ and then they 
can all have a little birthday dinner.” 

“ I’ll make some sandwiches,” promised 
Lassie. 

“And I’ll make some salted peanuts.” 
added Fluffy, while Curly decided to make 
some fudge. 

“ Oh, I know what I’ll make,” cried Betty, 
after she had thought for a moment, “ I’ll 
bake some ginger cookies, and maybe Mother 
Cuddles will let me put colored icing on 
them.” 


206 the SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

“ Oh, wouldn’t it be jolly,” said Lassie, 
“ if you could make a little gingerbread kitty 
boy for each one of the little Dobbies.” And 
Betty at once made up her mind to bake six 
little gingerbread kitties. 

The next Saturday morning was Mother 
Dobbie’s birthday and Betty was up bright 
and early and was coaxing Mother Cuddles 
to let her bake the cookies before the break¬ 
fast dishes were put away. 

But Mother Cuddles was very busy that 
* 

morning and told her she would have to wait 
until a little later. So instead of pouting as 
some little kitty girls would have done Betty 
waited patiently until her mother was 
through with her work. 

As soon as she could have the table, she got 
out the big yellow bowl and all the other 
things that she needed. Then she started to 


THE BIRTHDAY STORY 


20 g 


mix up the cookies just as Mother Cuddles 
had told her. 

But, goodness me, she forgot to put in the 
baking powder, and you ought to have seen 
those cookies when she looked in the oven. 
Instead of being little round puffed up 
cakes, as cookies ought to be, they were as 
flat as little pancakes that mother bakes for 
breakfast. 

So, of course, there were no cookies, nor 
gingerbread kitties either for Mother Dob- 
bie’s birthday, and Betty could hardly keep 
the tears back as she left the house to meet 
her three little friends. 

Lassie was just coming out of the gate as 
she reached there and her little playmate 
looked every bit as sad and downhearted as 
she did herself. 

“ Oh, Betty! ” gasped the little kitty girl, 


210 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

“ I couldn't make a single sandwich 'cause 
Mother Rover forgot to get the ham! " 

And then, of course, Betty told her all 
about the cookies. 

A little further on they met Fluffy and 
Curly and you could tell right away that 
those two little kitty girls were anything but 
happy. 

And no wonder, for poor little Fluffy had 
scorched her peanuts almost black while 
Curly had made a mistake and used salt in¬ 
stead of sugar to make the fudge. 

They didn't have a single thing to take to 
Mother Dobbie's and as they stood there 
talking about it and looking ready to cry who 
should come along but their old kittycat 
friend, Uncle Buff. 

“ Hello, little girls," said the jolly old 


THE BIRTHDAY STORY 


211 


doggie uncle, what makes you look so 
sad?” 

So they all tried to explain at once and all 
that Uncle Buff could make out of it was that 
Betty had forgotten to put baking powder in 
her peanuts and that Fluffy had put sand¬ 
wiches in her fudge. But, anyway, he un¬ 
derstood that there was to be no surprise for 
Mother Dobbie. 

“Well! Well! that’s too bad!” he de¬ 
clared. “ But never mind,” he said with a 
twinkle in his eye. “ Just come with me and 
we’ll fix things up in a jiffy.” 

So with Betty and Fluffy on one side and 
Curly and Lassie on the other Uncle Buff 
started down the street in the direction of 
Daddy Fourpaws’ store. 

And, would you believe it, when he got 
there he bought the nicest kind of a lunch 


212 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


you ever saw for those four little kitty girls. 
There were little round cakes with icing on 
them and a box of candy, and — oh, well, 
just lots of things like that. 

That morning Mother Dobbie had hardly 
finished the breakfast dishes when the front 
door bell rang. And when she went to see 
who it was there stood Laddie Rover, the 
little kitty boy, with a package in his paw. 

When Mother Dobbie opened it she found 
a little box inside just crammed full of 
pennies — one for each year she was old. 

Just a minute or two after that the door 
bell rang again and this time it was Buster 
Cuddles with another little package, from 
Mother Cuddles. And, that too, was full of 
pennies. Nor did Miss Prim and all the 
other animal folks forget to send theirs. 

And last of all came Betty and her three 


THE BIRTHDAY STORY 


213 


little playmates with their basket of goodies 
for the birthday dinner. 

“ A happy birthday, Mother Bobbie!” 
cried the four little kitty girls as Mother 
Dobbie opened the door and they handed her 
the basket. And to Mother Dobbie and all 
the little Dobbies it was the happiest birth¬ 
day they had ever known. 

And that’s all. 


XVII 


THE FISH HAWK STORY 

NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 



214 



THE FISH HAWK STORY 


215 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Bright and early one morning, Buster 
Cuddles, the little kitty boy, was walking 
down the little lane that led to Farmer 
Brisk’s. But this time he did not stop at 
the kittycat farmer’s place. He kept right 
on past the big red barn until he came to 
the strip of woods. And the path he took 
through the woods led him straight down to 
the creek. 


216 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

It was just the kind of a day that Buster 
liked to be along the creek. It was a lazy, 
hazy kind of a day with hardly enough air 
stirring to ripple the top of the water. 

And every once in a while some big fish 
would spy a bug or something near the sur¬ 
face of the water and up he would come ker- 
splash to get a bite for breakfast. 

As the little kitty boy stood near the edge 
of the water waiting for the next big fish to 
jump, he caught sight of an immense bird 
flying high above him. The big bird just 
floated along with his wings stuck out just 
as though he was in no particular hurry. 

And then all of a sudden old Mr. Fish 
Hawk must have seen something below him. 
Quick as a flash he darted down, down, 
down, until he struck the water with a 
splash. 


THE FISH HAWK STORY 


217 


“ Golly! ” exclaimed Buster, “ he’s going 
to drown himself! ” 

And to the little kitty boy it just looked 
that way as the big bird dove clear out of 
sight under the water. 

But just as quickly as he went under, he 
came up again. And away he flew with 
something held tight in his claws. 

“ Whee-e-e-e! ” whistled the surprised lit¬ 
tle kitty boy, ££ he’s caught a fish! ” 

And, sure enough, that’s just what it was. 
Old Mr. Fish Hawk had just caught his 
breakfast. 

££ The fish must be very plentiful when 
the birds can catch them like that,” thought 
Buster to himself. ££ I just wonder —” 

And do you know what he was thinking 
about? Why, he was curious to know 
whether he couldn’t make a little net and 




218 the SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

dip up some of the fish just like Mr. Fish 
Hawk had done. 

So he turned around and started for home 
as fast as he could go. And as he trotted 
along, he was planning to himself the best 
way to make the little net. 

As soon as he reached home, he hunted up 
a piece of strong wire and bent it in the shape 
of a hoop. Then he took a piece of cloth and 
tied it around the wire. And, last of all, he 
fastened a long pole to it. 

“What in the world are you making?” 
asked Mother Cuddles, just as he had fin¬ 
ished putting on the stick. 

“ Why, that’s a fish net,” explained Bus¬ 
ter. “ All you got to do is to scoop down 
into the water and bring up a big fish. You 
ought to see the birds do it! ” he declared; 


THE FISH HAWK STORY 


219 


“ they just grab up a fish as easy as anything 
and fly away with it.” 

Mother Cuddles was smiling to herself as 
she went on about her work. Because she 
knew as well as anything that her little kitty 
boy could never be as good a fisherman as old 
Mr. Fish Hawk. 

When Buster got back to the creek he 
waded out to a big flat rock in the middle of 
the stream and there he sat with his net 
raised all ready to scoop up a fish. 

He could see all kinds and sizes of them 
swimming around him, but just as soon as 
he moved the net away they went as hard 
as they could go. 

“ Pshaw! ” he grunted, “ why don’t they 
keep still! ” 

For one whole hour he sat on that rock 
waiting for those cranky old fish to keep still. 


220 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


And when he left for home how many fish 
do you think he had 4 ? 

Why, not a single one. No, sir, not even 
the teeniest weeniest one. And it wouldn’t 
surprise me a bit but what old Mr. Fish 
Hawk had caught another big one for his ten 
o’clock lunch. 

And that’s all. 



ALL READY TO SCOOP UP A FISH 







































XVIII 


THE THREE LITTLE BEARS STORY 


CE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 



house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 


223 




224 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere. Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Buster Cuddles, the little kitty boy, sat in 
the big arm chair by the window looking at a 
picture book, when all of a sudden he 
chanced to look outside and saw that it was 
snowing. And as soon as he caught sight of 
the big feathery snowflakes whirling past 
the window he forgot all about looking at 
pictures. 

“ Please, Mother Cuddles, may I go out 


THE THREE LITTLE BEARS STORY 2 2 $ 

for a walk 4 ? ” he asked his mother as he raced 
into the kitchen. 

44 You may go if you promise to be home in 
time for supper,” she told him. 

So Buster started off, but instead of going 
up or down Kittyway Lane, as he nearly al¬ 
ways did, this time he went out through the 
back gate and cut across the meadow. And 
you would be surprised to know how far that 
little kitty boy went. He climbed over 
fences and slid down little embankments 
and jumped over brooks and crawled 
through brier patches until he came to 
a great big woods that must have been a 
mile from home. And by the time he 
reached there, the ground was white with 
snow. 

Now there was one thing about the big 
woods that Buster didn’t know, or else he 


226 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

would have turned around and started back 
home as fast as he could go. And that was 
that a big brown mother bear, with her three 
little bear children, lived in a hole in some 
rocks close by. 

And just as Buster was climbing to the top 
of one of the big rocks, a big brown paw 
popped up from the other side and grabbed 
hold of his jacket. 

“Aha!” exclaimed Mother Bear in sur¬ 
prise, “ who’s this! ” 

“ Please — please,” begged Buster, as he 
gazed up into the big, shaggy face, “ I’m 
only little Buster Cuddles! ” 

cc Don’t be afraid,” smiled Mother Bear, 
kindly, “ I wouldn’t hurt you for the world. 
Children! Children! ” she called, suddenly, 
“ just see who’s here,! ” 

And out of the hole in the rock tumbled 



u 




THE GROUND WAS WHITE WITH SNOW 














THE THREE LITTLE BEARS STORY 229 

three little balls of fur with tiny black eyes 
and fuzzy wuzzy tails. 

“Oh, Mother Bear!” exclaimed Big 
Brother Bear, “ who is it? ” 

And Brother Bear and Baby Bear were 
every bit as much excited about the little 
stranger. 

“ I want you to play nicely with him,” 
said Mother Bear, “ and don’t forget that 
you have sharp claws.” 

At first Buster was so excited that he 
hardly knew what to say, but after a little 
bit he found that the three little bears were 
trying their best to be friendly. Big 
Brother Bear reached over and touched him 
softly on the paw while Baby Bear took a 
somersault to try and make him smile. 

“What’s your name, little kitty boy?” 
asked Big Brother Bear. 


2 3 o THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES 

“ My name is Buster,” answered that lit¬ 
tle kitty boy. 

“ Mine is Big Brother Bear,” said the tall¬ 
est one of the three little bears. 

“ And mine is Brother Bear,” added little 
bear number two. 

“ I 5 m Baby Bear,” chattered the littlest 
bear of them all. 

And it was quite surprising how friendly 
Buster and those three little bears got to be. 
They played games and had no end of a 
frolic until Mother Bear told Buster it was 
time for him to start for home. 

“ Maybe Mother Cuddles will be worried 
if you stay away too long,” she smiled. 

So after Buster had thanked the kind- 
hearted mother bear and said good-by to the 
three little bears, he started off back through 
the woods and across the fields. And he was 


THE THREE LITTLE BEARS STORY 231 

so eager to tell Mother Cuddles about his 
adventure that at some places he fairly ran. 
So, you know, it didn’t take him long to 
reach home. 

<£ Oh, Mother Cuddles,” he cried, as he 
burst into the kitchen, “ I’ve been to see 
Mother Bear and the three little bears! ” 

And after he had told her all about it, 
Mother Cuddles didn’t seem to be a bit 
alarmed about her little kitty boy playing 
with bears. " . 

“ I know Mother Bear very well,” she told 
him, “ and I feel sure that the three little 
bears are the best of playmates.” 

A few days after that it started to snow 
again right after breakfast and the first thing 
Buster thought about as he stood with his 
nose pressed tight against the window pane 
was that he would like to take a walk 


232 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

through the snow. So off he ran to ask 
Mother Cuddles. 

“ I should think you would rather stay in 
the house where it is nice and cozy,” she told 
him. 

“ Oh, but Mother Cuddles,” he ex¬ 
claimed, “ just see how nice the snow is! ” 

“ All right,” smiled Mother Cuddles, “ I 
guess little kitty boys don’t mind the cold.” 

So Buster started off and had hardly got¬ 
ten outside the kitchen door when he hap¬ 
pened to think of something. 

“ I just wonder —” he said softly to him¬ 
self, “ wouldn’t it be jolly! ” he finished, ex¬ 
citedly, as he dashed down the walk towards 
the back gate and hurried off across the 
meadows towards the big woods where 
Mother Bear and the three little bears lived. 

It was quite a long tramp for a little kitty 



THE THREE LITTLE BEARS STORY 


233 


boy, but Buster didn’t seem to mind at all. 
When he reached the woods he often had to 
crawl under the snow-laden branches of some 
of the trees and sometimes the snow came 
tumbling down all over him. But finally he 
reached the home of Mother Bear and the 
three little fuzzy wuzzy bears, and as he 
crawled up over the rocks to reach the front 
door, he was wondering to himself whether 
his three little friends were home. 

“Hello!” called Buster, softly, “hello, 
three little bears! ” 

And he heard someone whisper something 
inside and he felt sure it was little Baby 
Bear. 

“ Oh, Mother Bear,” said the tiny voice, 
“ someone’s calling! ” 

“ It must have been the wind,” declared 
Mother Bear. 


234 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

And Big Brother Bear and Brother Bear 
both started to laugh because Baby Bear 
thought he heard someone when it was only 
the wind. 

“ Hello, three little bears! ” called Buster 
again, and this time he called a little louder. 

“ Did you hear it? ” cried Baby Bear, ex¬ 
citedly. 

“ It must have been someone, after all, 5 ’ 
said Mother Bear, as she went to the front 
door to look. 

“ Well! Well! 55 she cried, as soon as she 
saw who was standing there, “ if it isn’t 
Mother Cuddles’s little kitty boy! ” 

“It’s. Buster! It’s Buster!” shouted 
Baby Bear, as his little black eyes peeped out 
from behind Mother Bear’s big apron. 

And out rushed the three little bears to 
catch hold of their little friend’s paw and 


THE THREE LITTLE BEARS STORY 


235 


tell him how glad they were that he had come 
to see them. 

For quite a while after that Buster played 
with the three little bears, and then Big 
Brother Bear asked Mother Bear whether 
they could all go outside and roll snowballs 
down the hill. 

44 Did you ever roll snowballs down a 
hill 4 ? 55 asked Baby Bear of Buster, as they 
started through the woods. 

44 Great, great big ones! ” declared the lit¬ 
tle kitty boy. 

But when they reached the top of the hill 
and he saw what big ones Big Brother Bear 
sent whirling down through the snow he felt 
quite sure that even his big, big ones were 
not so large as those. 

It was almost dinner time when Buster 
reached home and he was so tired that he 


236 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

stayed in that whole afternoon curled up in 
the big arm chair by the window. 

And that’s all. 


XIX 


THE AUTOMOBILE STORY 

NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 

green blinds, and it 

✓ 

stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 



239 



240 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Mrs. Proudpuss, the wealthy pussycat 
lady, who lived in a grand mansion on Kitty¬ 
way Lane, had a pair of the prettiest little 
ponies you ever saw and very often when 
the weather was nice and warm she took a 
drive out into the country. And sometimes 
she took her kittycat coachman along to drive 
the ponies and other times she drove them 
herself. 



THE AUTOMOBILE STORY 


241 


Well, one warm, sunny afternoon Mrs. 
Proudpuss was out driving all by herself 
when all of a sudden a piece of white paper 
came dancing down the road toward the two 
little ponies. And if there was one thing 
these two little ponies were afraid of, it was 
a piece of white paper fluttering in the wind. 

So what did they do but stand straight up 
in the air and poor Mrs. Proudpuss was so 
frightened that she hardly knew what to do. 

“Whoa, Buzzy! Whoa, Muzzy!” she 
called, softly, but Buzzy and Muzzy kept 
right on dancing as though that little piece 
of white paper was something dreadful. 

“ Oh, dear! ” sobbed Mrs. Proudpuss, “ if 
they only don’t run away and throw me out 
of the carriage! ” 

And, would you believe it, she had hardly 
said it before those two little ponies started 


242 


THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


down the road as hard as they could go. Both 
Buzzy and Muzzy had taken it into their 
little heads to run away. 

“Help! Help!” screamed Mrs. Proud- 
puss, as she caught hold of the seat to keep 
from falling out. 

Now a little farther on walked a little 
kitty boy with his paws in his pockets, whis¬ 
tling a merry little tune to himself. It was 
our little friend, Binny Ruffles, and, of 
course, he couldn’t help but hear Mrs. Proud- 
puss scream. 

And just as he was wondering what it was 
he caught sight of the two little ponies come 
tearing toward him with Mrs. Proudpuss 
crouching down in the seat behind them. 

“My!” he gasped, “they’re running 

I Jr 

away! 

And while he was only a little kitty boy, 


THE AUTOMOBILE STORY 


243 


he never even stopped to think whether he 
should try to stop them; he made one jump 
and caught Buzzy by the strap along side of 
his head. And there he hung until they both 
slowed down and stopped. 

“ You brave little kitty boy! 55 cried Mrs. 
Proudpuss as she jumped out of the carriage 
and caught him tight around the neck, “ you 
surely saved me from being thrown out.” 

And Binny said that he was very glad that 
he had come along just when he did and of¬ 
fered to drive the two little ponies home. So 
away they went with Buzzy and Muzzy trot¬ 
ting along as nicely as you please. 

When Binny reached Mrs. Proudpuss’s 
home she told him to be sure and come to see 
her the next afternoon, and he promised not 
to forget. 

And what do you think the pussycat lady 


244 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

had for him when he called to see her the 
next day? Why the nicest little automobile 
that was ever made for a little kitty boy to 
run. 

“ Oh, Mrs. Proudpuss! ” exclaimed Binny 
with shining eyes. 

And he was so delighted that he hardly 
knew what to say. And he thanked her 
twice before he left the house and then ran 
back to thank her again for fear he might 
have forgotten. 

On the way home, the little automobile 
ran all right until it came to the little hill 
near Daddy Fourpaws’ store and it acted just 
as though it didn’t want to climb to the top. 
But then what can you expect of a little bit 
of a car when the very biggest ones don’t al¬ 
ways behave. So it was no wonder that 
Binny had to get out and push. 



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“ THE LITTLE AUTOMOBILE RAN ALL RIGHT ” 














THE AUTOMOBILE STORY 


247 


It only took a minute or two, however, and 
he was soon on his way again with the little 
car chugging right along. And you ought to 
have seen the kittycat folks stare as he spun 
down Kittyway Lane. 

Nor was Binny the least bit selfish and he 
spent the rest of the afternoon giving his lit¬ 
tle playmates a ride. And the two who 
seemed to enjoy it the most were Tommy and 
Teddy Cuddles. 

A few days after that these same two little 
kitty boys happened to pass by the place 
where Doctor Tabby kept his automobile. 
Doctor Tabby was the kittycat Doctor who 
tended to all the sick little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, and, of course, he 
had a much larger car than Binny. 

The door of the little automobile house 
was open and Tommy and Teddy caught 


248 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

side of Doctor Tabby inside working on his 
car. He was greasing the wheels or putting 
oil inside of it or something like that. 

“Hello, boys ! 55 he called, as he caught 
sight of them. 

“Hello, Doctor Tabby! ” answered both 
little kitty boys. 

“ How would you boys like to earn ten 
cents apiece? 55 asked the kittycat doctor. 

Of course all little kitty boys like to earn 
money so they both asked Doctor Tabby 
what he wanted them to do. 

“ Why I want you to wash the car , 55 ex¬ 
plained the doctor, “ I 5 m going away in my 
carriage in a few minutes and won't be back 
till evening. So I want to see how nice and 
clean you can make it look. And when I 
come back I’ll give you each ten cents . 55 

So as soon as the doctor left Tommy and 


THE AUTOMOBILE STORY 


249 

Teddy started in to wash the car. And you 
would be surprised to see how clean and 
shiny they made it look. 

After they were all through Tommy sug¬ 
gested that they take it out for a little ride. 

“ Maybe we’d better not,” objected 
Teddy. “ Doctor Tabby might be cross 
about it.” 

“ How’d he find it out?” demanded 
Tommy. “ We don’t have to tell him, do 
we?” 

Now both little kitty boys knew very well 
that they were not doing right in taking out 
Doctor Tabby’s automobile without his per¬ 
mission, but they did not think long enough 
about the wrong they were doing because 
they wanted a ride so badly. 

So they started the car and away they went 
down Kitty way Lane. Tommy did the 


250 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

steering while Teddy sat in the seat behind 
him. 

The car was running along as quietly as a 
mouse, when all of a sudden something hap¬ 
pened. The front wheel struck a rock and 
bang went the tire with a big hole in it. 
They stopped so suddenly that both of them 
were nearly pitched out on their heads. 

“ Whee-e-e! 55 whistled Teddy, as soon as 
he saw what had happened. “ What will 
we do now? ” 

“Let’s take it home,” advised Tommy, 
“ and tell Mother Cuddles all about it.” 

So that’s just what they did, and, of course, 
Mother Cuddles felt very sorry when they 
told her. 

Just as soon as Doctor Tabby returned, she 
made them both go and tell him what they 

i 

had done. And not onlv that but she told 



THE FRONT WHEEL STRUCK A ROCK 









THE AUTOMOBILE STORY 253 

them to tell him that they would pay to have 
the tire repaired. 

So for several weeks after that both 
Tommy and Teddy had to do without their 
candy and ice-cream for it took all their 
pennies to have the tire repaired. 

And that’s all. 


1 


XX 


THE TELEPHONE STORY 

N CE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it * 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 
And sometimes little Charles and little John 



254 



THE TELEPHONE STORY 


255 


would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 
he’d only tell this story. . . . 

Mother Cuddles, the kittycat mother, felt 
just a little bit worried because three weeks 
had gone by and she hadn’t heard a word 
from Aunty Cute. Aunty Cute, who lived 
several miles from Kittycat Town, was the 
mother of the six little Cutes, and the six lit¬ 
tle Cutes and the eight little Cuddleses were 
cousins. Never a week went by that Aunty 
Cute did not write Mother Cuddles and tell 



256 the SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

her how they all were. But for three whole 
weeks now there had been nothing from 
Aunty Cute — not even a picture post card. 
So it was no wonder that Mother Cuddles 
felt something was wrong. 

“ Maybe Aunty Cute is sick,” said Mother 
Cuddles to her little girl, Betty, “ and that’s 
the reason she does not write.” 

“ Oh, wouldn’t it be dreadful,” exclaimed 
kind hearted little Betty, “ to have Aunty 
Cute sick and no one to wait on the little 
Cutes! ” 

“ It surely would,” declared Mother Cud¬ 
dles. “ If I don’t hear from her in a few 
days, I’m going to go to see her.” 

Well, anyway, when Betty met her little 
kitty brother, Buster, in the yard a few min¬ 
utes later, she told him what Mother Cuddles 
had said. 


THE TELEPHONE STORY 


257 


“ I wish we could find out about her right 
away, 5 ’ said Buster, “ so that we could tell 
Mother Cuddles . 55 

“ Oh, we can! We can ! 55 cried Betty, 
suddenly, as she happened to think of some¬ 
thing, “ we can telephone to her from 
Daddy’s store. Don’t you remember Aunty 
Cute has a telephone in her sitting- 
room . 55 

The next moment the two of them were 
flying down the street toward Daddy’s store 
and when they got there they were so out 
of breath that they could hardly tell Daddy 
what they wanted. 

But finally the good-natured kittycat 
storekeeper understood that they wanted to 
use the telephone, so he told them to go to 
the back part of the store and help them¬ 
selves. 


258 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

“ I guess it will be a little too high up for 
you youngsters / 5 he told them, “ so pull out 
the little stool in the corner and stand on 
that / 5 

Now neither Buster nor Betty had ever 
used a telephone before, so, of course, they 
had to ask Daddy to tell them how. 

“You take down that little round thing 
off the hook and hold it to your ear / 5 ex¬ 
plained Daddy, “ and then some one will ask 
you what number you want . 55 

So Buster took down the little round thing 
called a receiver and there was a little tinkly 
noise as he heard some one ask, “ Number, 
please ? 55 It was the kittycat lady, you 
know, who always gave the animal folks the 
party they wanted to talk to. 

“ I want to talk to Aunty Cute , 55 shouted 
Buster. 


THE TELEPHONE STORY 


259 


“ Number, please? ” repeated the kittycat 
lady. 

“ She wants a number,” whispered Buster 
to Betty. 

“ Maybe she wants to know how old Aunty 
Cute is,” replied Betty. 

“ She's just as old as Mother Cuddles is,” 
shouted Buster to the kittycat lady. 

“ Oh, dear! Oh, dear! ” Buster heard the 
kittycat lady say to herself, “ why can't some 
folks understand! ” 

“ Hey, Buster, what's the matter? ” asked 
Daddy just then. 

“ She wants a number,” Buster told 
him. 

“ Whom do you want to talk to? ” asked 
Daddy. 

“ Why, Aunty Cute,” replied Buster. 

Now Daddy had often heard of Aunty 


26 o the SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

Cute and he knew just where she lived. So 
he looked in a little book and told Buster to 
say 1-2-5 t0 the kittycat lady. 

“ Let me try it,” begged Betty. 

So Betty talked to the kittycat lady 
through the ’phone and told her she wanted 
1-2-5 while Buster stood on the stool along 
side of her to listen. 

And, would you believe it, hardly two min¬ 
utes later some one said “hello!” and it 
was Aunty Cute herself. 

“ Oh, Aunty Cute,” cried Betty, “ is that 
you? ” 

“ Yes, indeed,” replied Aunty Cute, “ and 
it sounds to me just like little Betty Cud¬ 
dles’s voice.” 

“ That’s who it is! ” cried Betty, delight¬ 
edly. 

“ And this is Buster,” added that little 



a 


>> 


STOOD ON THE STOOL ALONGSIDE OF HER TO LISTEN 






\ 


THE TELEPHONE STORY 263 

kitty boy, who had his ear almost as close to 
the ’phone as Betty. 

Well, anyway, Aunty Cute told them that 
the reason she did not write was because she 
had been so busy cleaning house. 

And before they stopped talking, she sent 
them both a kiss over the telephone wire. 
And that’s all. 


XXI 


THE BLUSTERY MR. NORTH 
WIND STORY 

NCE upon a time there was 
a farmhouse that was 
painted white with 
green blinds, and it 
stood not far from the 
road, and in the farm¬ 
house lived Uncle John and Aunt Deborah 
and their two little boys, little Charles and 
little John. And often in the long winter 
evenings, when the wind blew, Uncle John 
would tell the two little boys stories of 
Kittycat Town, where the kittycats, big and 
little, lived in their little brick houses. 



264 



THE BLUSTERY MR. NORTH WIND STORY 265 

And sometimes little Charles and little John 

\ 

would search for the little kitty boys and 
girls of Kittycat Town, but no matter where 
they looked, they never were able to find 
them. When they asked Uncle John if the 
kitty boys and girls were really and truly 
anywhere, Uncle John would laugh and pat 
their heads and say, “ Now listen to me and 
the wind and we’ll tell you.”— But then 

he’d only tell this story. . . . 

S' 

Jack Frost, the merry little ice and snow 
chap, was having the time of his life. For 
several weeks, he and blustery Mr. North 
Wind were busy as could be making all kinds 
of weather for the kittycat folks of Kittycat 
Town. 

Now the little Jack Frost of Animal Land 
is the same little frostland elf who pinches 



266 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 


the fingers and toes of our own little boys 
and girls. Of course, no one ever sees him, 
because he’s a very sly little chap and so spry 
that he can jump out of your way before you 
even catch a glimpse of him. 

But, just the same, he can reach over your 
shoulder and pinch your nose before you 
have time to think about it. And he can 
paint little girls’ cheeks a rosy red as easily 
as he can draw frost lace on the window 
pane. 

Well, one day, Jack Frost and blustery 
Mr. North Wind put their heads together 
and planned a big surprise for the little kit- 
tycat folks. 

“ I’ll pile the snow up as high as the 
fence! ” roared blustery Mr. North Wind. 

“ Won’t it be jolly! ” laughed little Jack 
Frost. 


THE BLUSTERY MR. NORTH WIND STORY 267 

So that morning it began to snow, and by 
the time school let out in the afternoon the 
little kittycat boys and girls found that it 
was getting very deep. But that seemed to 
please them all the more, for on the way 
home they hunted out the deepest places to 
walk. 

When Buster Cuddles reached home he 
only stopped long enough to put his books on 
the table. 

“Where are you going, Buster 1 ?” asked 
Mother Cuddles. 

“ Just to take a little walk,” replied her lit¬ 
tle kitty boy. 

Now all the time it was getting windier 
outside and the snow was being piled up into 
little drifts. It wasn’t the kind of weather 
for a little kitty boy to go walking, and if 
Mother Cuddles had known that Buster in- 


268 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

tended to go clear out to the woods back of 
Farmer Brisk’s place she would have made 
him stay in. 

But the little kitty boy went merrily along, 
kicking at the drifts of snow without stop¬ 
ping to think that all the time the wind was 
blowing harder and the snow getting thicker. 

It was not until he reached the big rocks in 
the woods that he discovered that instead of 
being an ordinary snow storm it was a regu¬ 
lar blizzard. 

“ My! ” he gasped, as he turned about and 
tried to push his way back through the biting 
snow, “ I wish I hadn’t come so far.” 

“Woo-o-o-o!” chortled blustery Mr. 
North Wind as he flung a shower of snow all 
over the little kitty boy, “ it serves you 
right! ” 

And Buster got so confused that he had to 



HE HAD TO CRAWL UNDER A ROCK 
















THE BLUSTERY MR. NORTH WIND STORY 2 ?l 

crawl under a rock to get his breath. And 
despite all he could do two big tears came 
into his eyes. 

“ Mother Cuddles,” he called softly to 
himself. 

But Mother Cuddles was too far away to 
help her little kitty boy. 

Now I wouldn’t like to tell you what might 
have happened to Buster if it hadn’t been 
for little Jack Frost. But the little frost elf 
saw what was going on and begged blustery 
Mr. North Wind to stop blowing for a 
while. 

“ Just a few minutes,” growled the old 
wind maker. 

But it was just long enough for Buster to 
reach Kittyway Lane and in a short time he 
was safe and sound at home. 


“ There,” smiled little Jack Frost to him- 


272 THE SANDMAN: HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

self, “ Im awful glad that little kitty boy 
reached home.” 

All that night it kept on snowing and little 
Jack Frost was busy painting frost pictures 
on the windows of the little brick houses of 
Kittycat Town, while blustery Mr. North 
Wind tore from one place to another piling 
the snow into bigger drifts. 

“ Just wait till morning comes,” roared the 
stormy old wind maker as he passed by little 
Jack Frost, “ the snow will be so deep that 
those little kittycat boys won’t dare to 
poke their noses out-of-doors for several 
days.” 

But little Jack Frost wasn’t quite so sure 
of that, because, you see, he knew the little 
kittycat boys a great deal better than blus¬ 
tery Mr. North Wind. And he knew as well 
as any one that those little animal boys just 


THE BLUSTERY MR. NORTH WIND STORY 273 

couldn’t stay in the house with all that snow 
piled up outside. 

The next morning just as the little kitty- 
cat children were getting out of bed, it 
started to clear off and when Buster Cuddles 
came downstairs and looked out of the 
kitchen window he found that the snow was 
piled clear up to the window sill. And some 
of the drifts out in the yard were even higher 
than the top of the fence. 

“ I wonder,” said the little kitty boy, 
quietly, to himself, “ I wonder if I could get 
across to see Laddie.” Laddie, you know, 
was his little kittycat playmate who lived 
next door. 

And what did he do but crawl out of the 
window and drop down into the big snow 
drift. Yes, sir, he dropped clear out of sight, 
and for a moment or two all you could see 


274 THE SANDMAN : HIS KITTY CAT STORIES 

was the snow flying. But he never stopped 
to look around, for fear Mother Cuddles 
might see him and call him back. He started 
straight for the Rovers’s back door, and half 
the time he was crawling through the drifts 
like a little burrowing ground mole. But he 
finally got there. 

44 Hello, Laddie! ” he puffed, as the door 
was opened by his little kitty chum. And 
Laddie was so surprised to see who was 
there that he just stared at him with his 
mouth open. 

“ How did you ever do it 4 ? ” he asked, as he 
pulled up a chair for Buster by the kitchen 
stove. 

44 Huh!” sniffed Buster, 44 that’s noth¬ 
ing! ” And just at that very time, little 
Jack Frost was telling blustery Mr. North 
Wind a bit of news. 44 Didn’t I tell you,” 



LOOKED OUT OF THE KITCHEN WINDOW 













THE BLUSTERY MR. NORTH WiND STORY 2 77 

chuckled the little frost chap, “ there’s that 
little Buster Cuddles just crawled through 
the snow to the house next door.” 

“ Don’t it beat all! ” growled the blustery 
old wind maker. cc You just can’t keep lit¬ 
tle boys in! ” 

And that’s all of this book. 







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THREE MARGARETS 
MARGARET MONTFORT 
PEGGY 
RITA 

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THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOR 

(Trade Mark) 

THE LITTLE COLONEL’S KNIGHT COMES 

(Trade Mark) 

RIDING 

MARY WARE: THE LITTLE COLONEL’S 

(Trade Mark) 

CHUM 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS 
MARY WARE’S PROMISED LAND 

These twelve volumes, boxed as a set, $18.00. 

A—9 



THE FA EE COMPANY’S 


SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITIONS 

Each small quarto , cloth decorative, per volume . $1.25 

New plates, handsomely illustrated with eight full-page 
drawings in color, and many marginal sketches. 

THE LITTLE COLONEL 

(Trade Mark) 

TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY 
THE GIANT SCISSORS 
BIG BROTHER 

THE JOHNSTON JEWEL SERIES 

Each small 16mo, cloth decorative , with frontispiece 

and decorative text borders , per volume . Net $0.50 

IN THE DESERT OF WAITING: The Legend 

of Camelback Mountain. 

THE THREE WEAVERS: A Fairy Tale for 
Fathers and Mothers as Well as for Their 
Daughters. 

KEEPING TRYST: A Tale of King Arthur’s 
Time. 

THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART 
THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS WINSOME: 

A Fairy Play for Old and Young. 

THE JESTER’S SWORD 


THE LITTLE COLONEL’S GOOD TIMES 
BOOK 

Uniform in size with the Little Colonel Series . $1.50 

Bound in white kid (morocco) and gold . ■ Net 3.00 
Cover design and decorations by Peter Verberg. 

“ A mighty attractive volume in which the owner may 
record the good times she has on decorated pages, and 
under the directions as it were of Annie Fellows John¬ 
ston.” — Buffalo Express . 

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BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


THE LITTLE COLONEL DOLL BOOK — 
First Series 

Quarto, boards, printed in colors . . • $1.50 

A series of “ Little Colonel ” dolls. Each has several 
changes of costume, so they can be appropriately clad 
for the rehearsal of any scene or incident in the series. 

THE LITTLE COLONEL DOLL BOOK— 
Second Series 

Quarto, boards, printed in colors . . . $1.50 

An artistic series of paper dolls, including not only 
lovable Mary Ware, the Little Colonel’s chum, but many 
another of the much loved characters which appear in 
the last three volumes of the famous “ Little Colonel 
Series.” 

ASA HOLMES 

By Annie Fellows Johnston. 

With a frontispiece by Ernest Fosbery. 

16mo, cloth decorative, gilt top . . . $1.00 

“ ‘ Asa Holmes ’ is the most delightful, most sympa¬ 
thetic and wholesome book that has been published in a 
long while.” — Boston Times. 

TRAVELERS FIVE: ALONG LIFE’S HIGH¬ 
WAY 

By Annie Fellows Johnston. 

With an introduction by Bliss Carman, and a frontis¬ 
piece by E. H. Garrett. 

12mo, cloth decorative. $1.25 

“ Mrs. Johnston broadens her reputation with this book 
so rich in the significance of common things.” — Boston 
Advertiser. 

JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE 

By Annie Fellows Johnston. 

12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50 

“ The book is a very clever handling of the greatest 
event in the history of the world.” — Rochester , N. Y ., 
Herald. 

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THE PAGE COMPANY’& 


THE BOYS’ STORY OF THE ARMY 

SERIES 

By Florence Kimball Russel 

BORN TO THE BLUE 

12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.25 

“ The story deserves warm commendation and genuine 
popularity.”— Army and Navy Register. 

IN WEST POINT GRAY 

12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50 

“ One of the best books that deals with West Point.”— 
New York Sun. 

FROM CHEVRONS TO SHOULDER- 
STRAPS 

12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50 

“ The life of a cadet at West Point is portrayed very 
realistically.”— The Hartford Post, Hartford, Conn. 

DOCTOR’S LITTLE GIRL SERIES 

By Marion Ames Taggart 

Each large 12mo, cloth, illustrated, per volume , $1.50 

THE DOCTOR’S LITTLE GIRL 

“ A charming story of the ups and downs of the life 
of a dear little maid.”— The Churchman. 

SWEET NANCY: The Further Adventures of 
the Doctor’s Little Girl. 

“ Just the sort of book to amuse, while its influence 
cannot but be elevating.”— New York Sun. 

NANCY, THE DOCTOR’S LITTLE PARTNER 

“ The jtory is sweet and fascinating, such as many 
girls of wholesome tastes will enjoy.”— Springfield Union. 

NANCY PORTER’S OPPORTUNITY 

“Nancy shows throughout that she is a splendid young 
woman, with plenty of pluck.”— Boston Globe. 

NANCY AND THE COGGS TWINS 

“ The story is refreshing.”— New York Sun. 

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BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


WORKS OF EVALEEN STEIN 

THE CHRISTMAS PORRINGER 

12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by Adelaide 

Everhart.$1.25 

This story happened many hundreds of years ago in 
the quaint Flemish city of Bruges and concerns a little 
girl named Karen, who worked at lace-making with her 
aged grandmother. 

GABRIEL AND THE HOUR BOOK 

Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and 
decorated in colors by Adelaide Everhart . . $1.25 

“No works in juvenile fiction contain so many of the 
elements that stir the hearts of children and grown-ups as 
well as do the stories so admirably told by this author.” 

— Louisville Daily Courier. 

A LITTLE SHEPHERD OF PROVENCE 

12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by Diantha 

H. Marlowe.$1.25 

“ The story should be one of the influences in the life 
of every child to whom good stories can be made to 
appeal.” — Public Ledger. 

THE LITTLE COUNT OF NORMANDY 

12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by John Goss $1.25 
u This touching and pleasing story is told with a wealth 
of interest coupled with enlivening descriptions of the 
country where its scenes are laid and of the people thereof.” 

— Wilmington Every Evening. 


ELEANOR OF THE HOUSEBOAT 

By Louise M. Breitenbach. 

12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50 

An unusually interesting story of how Eleanor Tracy 
spent a wonderful summer on a houseboat. 

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A 

THE PAGE COMPANY’S 


HISTORICAL BOOKS 

THE BOYS OF ’61; Or, Four Years of Fighting. 

By Charles Carleton Coffin. 

Standard Edition. An entirely new edition, cloth deco¬ 
rative, 8vo, with nearly two hundred illustrations, $2.00 
Popular Edition. Cloth decorative, 12mo, with eight 
illustrations . . . . . . . $1.00 

A record of personal observation with the Army and 
Navy, from the Battle of Bull Run to the fall of Rich¬ 
mond. 

THE BOYS OF 1812 ; And Other Naval Heroes. 

By James Russell Soley. 

Cloth decorative, 8vo, illustrated . . . $2.00 

“ The book is full of stirring incidents and adven¬ 
tures.”— Boston Herald. 

THE SAILOR BOYS OF ’61 

By James Russell Soley. 

Cloth decorative, 8vo, illustrated . . . $2.00 

“ It is written with an enthusiasm that never allows 
the interest to slacken.”— The Call, Newark, N. J. 

BOYS OF FORT SCHUYLER 

By James Otis. 

Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated . $1.25 
“ It is unquestionably one of the best historical Indian 
stories ever written.”— Boston Herald. 

FAMOUS WAR STORIES 

By Charles Carleton Coffin 
Each cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, per vol., $1.25 

WINNING HIS WAY 

A story of a young soldier in the Civil War. 

MY DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE BAT¬ 
TLEFIELD 

A story of the Battle of Bull Run and other battles in 
Kentucky, Tennessee, and on the Mississippi. 

FOLLOWING THE FLAG 

A story of the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War. 
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